Conspiracy theories have sprung to life

Iran declares five days of mourning 

Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber named successor

Iranian State media yesterday confirmed the death of the country’s President, Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area of north-western Iran, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

They were killed after the helicopter they were travelling in came down on Sunday.

BBC said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had announced five days of mourning following the death of Raisi. Ayatollah Khamenei said he offered his condolences “to the dear people of Iran”.

Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber has been appointed to assume interim duties after the death of the President.

Mokhber will work with the heads of Iran’s legislature and judiciary to prepare for a presidential election within 50 days – a period of time set out in Iran’s Constitution for replacing a President who dies in office.

Iran’s cabinet has also appointed deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani as acting Foreign Minister.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph said that it did not take long for the first accusations of foul play to appear on Iranian state television following the announcement that Raisi had died in a helicopter crash.

Most reports, for now, focus on the poor, foggy conditions the craft was flying near the border between Iran and Azerbaijan, as well as the ageing nature of Iran’s fleet.

There have not been formal claims that the helicopter was tampered with on the ground or during its flight.

But it is, at the least, an unfortunate time for an Iranian leader to fall victim to an accident: the Islamic Republic is engaged in an increasingly open war with Israel, inviting Western pressure with its support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, but also facing ongoing resistance on its own streets.

Sky News Australia said: Macquarie University Research Fellow Kylie Moore-Gilbert says she thinks there will be a “huge number” of conspiracy theories flooding the internet if it is confirmed Iran’s President has died following a helicopter crash. Ms Moore-Gilbert said within moments of reports emerging of the crash, the conspiracy theories “already started swirling”. “All the conspiracy theories have already started swirling – it’s Mossad, it’s the Americans, it could be disgruntled people within Iran. “Iran they love their conspiracy theories, as do any people in an authoritarian regime where you can’t trust state media and propaganda abounds. “I think we’ll see a huge number of those conspiracy theories flooding the internet if it is confirmed he has died.”

BBC said it had been initially reported that the helicopter carrying the men and their entourage had made a hard landing in foggy conditions.

The area where the aircraft came down is close to the border with Azerbaijan, where Raisi had been meeting President Ilham Aliyev. He was there to open the Qiz Qalasi and Khodaafarin dams.

On Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent confirmed that the bodies of the president and others who died in the crash had been recovered and search operations had ended.

“We are in the process of transferring the bodies of the martyrs to Tabriz [in Iran’s north-west],” the organisation’s chief said on state TV.

Iranian news outlet Tasnim, which is affiliated to the country’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, reported that President Ebrahim Raisi’s funeral will be held on Tuesday in Tabriz.

The Economic Times of India

said that Social media was abuzz with conspiracy theories about the death Raisi in a helicopter crash.

Occurring amid the Israel-Hamas war in which Iran-backed militant groups Hezbollah and the Houthis are also attacking Israel, Raisi’s accidental death will make Israel a suspect, especially after Israel’s alleged strike on April 1 on Iranian consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria, killing seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two senior commanders, which provoked Iran to launch a missile-and-drone attack on Israel, the first direct conflict in an old shadow war between the two countries.

A report published by WION said that Israel on Monday (May 20) denied any involvement in the death of Raisi. Speaking to the news agency Reuters, an Israeli official, who chose to remain anonymous, said, “It wasn’t us.”

Raisi, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other Iranian officials were killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border. Raisi, a hardliner seen as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was 63 years old at the time of his death.

The Israeli government has officially not commented on Raisi’s death yet.

Global leaders on Monday expressed their condolences over the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash