Iranian state media reported Monday morning that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and different officers have been killed in a helicopter crash close to the border between northern Iran and Azerbaijan on Sunday. .
The helicopter was a part of a three-helicopter convoy getting back from a joint dam challenge launch occasion when it crashed in dense fog in a distant space on Sunday. Fog and rugged terrain hampered search efforts. All eight our bodies on board have been found on Monday.
Raisi’s demise comes amid rising worldwide tensions and rising hypothesis about who will succeed Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Khamenei. Raisi was extensively thought-about a doable successor to him.
In this photograph launched by the Office of the First Vice President of Iran, Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Mokber (proper), at the moment appearing President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, leads a cupboard assembly in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, May 20, 2024. He was appointed appearing president of the Islamic Republic on Monday following the demise of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash within the nation’s northwest. (Office of the First Vice President of Iran, Associated Press)
Associated Press
ABC contributor Col. Steve Gunyard, a former fighter pilot and former State Department official, analyzed the crash and its political fallout in Iran and elsewhere on “Start Here” Monday morning.
Let’s begin right here: What do we all know to date about this case?
GAYADD: This looks like a fairly basic accident that happens when helicopter pilots attempt to ignore and work across the climate in very mountainous areas. So we all know there was quite a lot of fog within the space. We know that they had senior officers, crucial folks, and that usually places an additional burden on the pilots, at the very least mentally, to ensure they get to their vacation spot. And if you’re flying by the mountains and visibility could be very poor, helicopter pilots naturally have a tendency to start out descending, to attempt to get decrease and get beneath the fog or cloud layer. And they know that they’ll get the plane down if they should. But it usually leads to tragedy. If you bear in mind, earlier this yr, in February, a Marine helicopter was making an attempt to do precisely this, making an attempt to get again to San Diego, and it crashed within the mountains above San Diego, simply east of San Diego. And sadly, all of the Marines on board misplaced their lives.
Let’s begin right here: So we’re areas with dense forests and many rain and fog. The Iranian authorities introduced that it had dispatched a rescue workforce. But we do not get a lot data from them. Is {that a} widespread prevalence within the Iranian nationwide authorities?
Residents watch a big display screen displaying footage of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi throughout a night information broadcast on his demise at an outside shopping center in Beijing, Monday, May 20, 2024. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday expressed deep condolences over his demise. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi mentioned the next. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Associated Press
Gayard: That’s once I was concerned in an accident involving a really senior particular person. Obviously, the president of this nation. He is just not a very powerful determine – Khamenei stays a very powerful determine when it comes to Iranian management. But that is nonetheless an important and really public determine. He is in some ways the chosen face of Iran to the remainder of the world. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was additionally there. Interestingly, he was the 2 folks most chargeable for the issues Iran was inflicting within the area. As we all know, they’re the principle supporters of the Houthis, they’re the principle supporters of Hamas, they’re the principle supporters of Hezbollah. So all of the struggling and all of the instability on this area is directed, at the very least not directly, by the affect of the 2 folks on that helicopter.
Start right here: Well, you have been alluding to the politics of this nation, however is it doable that this collapse will change the dynamics and the way the US views Tehran? Do you count on the federal government to proceed?
GANYAR: Well, Mr. Raisi is essentially the most senior elected official in Iran, and his overseas minister is a really public overseas minister. He is the face of relations with different components of the world, particularly with different areas. However, this has little impression on Iranian home politics. The Ayatollah stays in charge of all energy inside Iran. However, true energy doesn’t lie with the president. It continues to be within the arms of the mullahs. It continues to be within the arms of Ayatollah Khamenei.
Let’s begin right here: Well, Steve, there’s lots that is unclear concerning the precise reason behind this crash. Obviously climate is probably going the principle trigger. But some are questioning if Israel might have been concerned on this not directly. Is that doable?
Gayard: That’s doable. you by no means know. The Israelis performed an incredible operation inside Iran. However, we additionally know that climate was a big subject right here, and the truth that two different helicopters have been in a position to land with the presidential helicopter, however overpassed the presidential helicopter, means that climate might have had one thing to do with it. It would counsel that it was. But for now, we’ll simply have to attend and see. Clearly, even when Israel was concerned, Iran would by no means admit it, and Israel most likely wouldn’t declare accountability on this case.
Let’s begin right here: And Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has famous that U.S. intelligence businesses haven’t discovered Israel to be behind this at this level, so I wish to make that very clear. Steve, thanks a lot for becoming a member of us.