On the afternoon of the 19th local time, a helicopter carrying the Iranian president, foreign minister and many entourages unexpectedly encountered a hard landing in the Varzagan region of East Azerbaijan Province. This sudden accident caught everyone off guard.
After the accident, the Iranian side immediately acted and urgently organized rescue teams. However, the rescue operation encountered many difficulties. The accident site is located in a mountainous area with inconvenient transportation, dense forests, complex terrain, and foggy and obstructed vision, making every step of the rescue team difficult, as if groping in a maze.
However, in the midst of the crisis, a force of aid from Turkey provided new information. In the early morning of the 20th local time, the "Ranger" drone sent by Turkey identified the heat source in the vast mountainous area, which is likely to be the location of the helicopter accident. The drone quickly provided the Iranian side with exact coordinate information, indicating the direction of the rescue operation. Rescuers from the Iranian side received this critical information and quickly determined the exact location of the accident helicopter. Regrettably, Iranian rescuers confirmed that President Raisi, Foreign Minister Abdollahian, and the Governor of East Azerbaijan Province, including Rahmati, were killed.
It is reported that Iranian President Raisi's helicopter fleet consists of three helicopters and was traveling from Khoda Afalin County to Tabriz to attend the inauguration of a petrochemical complex at the time of the incident. Earlier in the day, Raisi joined Azerbaijani President Aliyev in the inauguration of the reservoir dam in Khoda Afarin County. The flotilla also carried a number of senior officials, including Foreign Minister Abdollahian.
According to CNN, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Layton said that Iranian President Raisi's crash was linked to U.S. sanctions. He said that the helicopter that Iranian President Raisi was flying in may be the Bell 212 helicopter that came out in the 60s of the last century.
The helicopter was initially produced in the United States by the American company Bell, and then production began in Canada as well. As for Iran's access to the plane, Leiden believes it may have been commercially purchased by Iran's pro-Western Pahlavi regime in 1976.
However, due to the sanctions imposed by the United States, the Iranian side has encountered difficulties in obtaining such helicopter parts, and it is almost impossible to replace those old and damaged parts. Leiden believes that, in addition to the weather factor, this is undoubtedly one of the potential causes of the crash. It's like saddling an old horse with the expectation that it will be able to gallop thousands of miles, only to fall due to exhaustion. Iran's helicopters, due to the lack of necessary parts and maintenance, are also like this old horse, which can be overwhelmed at any time and have accidents.