Iran investigation: Weather-related crash of Raisi helicopter

The final investigation into the Iranian case of the helicopter crash in May that killed President Ebrahim Raisi has found that bad weather was the cause, the body investigating the case said on Sunday.

The helicopter carrying 63-year-old Raisi and his entourage crashed on a foggy mountainside in northern Iran, killing the president and seven other people and triggering new elections.

The main cause of the helicopter crash was the “complex climatic and atmospheric conditions of the region in spring,” said the special commission investigating the extent and causes of the helicopter accident, according to state broadcaster IRIB.

The report added that the helicopter’s collision with the mountain was caused by “the sudden appearance of a dense, rising mass of fog.”

The Iranian army also stated in May that it had found no evidence of criminal activity in connection with the plane crash in which Raisi’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also killed.

In August, Fars News Agency cited bad weather conditions and the helicopter’s inability to take off with two extra passengers, contrary to safety regulations, as the main causes of the May 19 crash. However, the Iranian armed forces quickly refuted this finding, saying: “The presence of two people in the helicopter, contrary to safety regulations, mentioned in Fars News… is completely false.”