\u201cPresident Raisi\u2019s helicopter crashes in Iran: What we know so far,\u201d Al Jazeera, 5-19-24.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTravelling with Ebrahim Raisi were Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran\u2019s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to East Azerbaijan, according to state media. Where did the helicopter fall?\u00a0It fell in the Dizmar Protected Area, a wildlife corridor across the border with Azerbaijan. State TV initially said the helicopter fell near Jolfa, a city on the border with Azerbaijan but later it put it farther east near the village of Uzi.\u201d\u00a0 \u2026 \u201c\u2026 where his helicopter went down, while the rest of the convoy continued.\u201d\u00a0 What?!\u00a0 The president of the country\u2019s copter goes down and the others don\u2019t stay or at a minimum mark the spot?<\/p>\n
Per Iranian Constitution Art. 131, the first vice president becomes acting president if the president is incapacitated (and if the supreme leader approves). \u00a0The next president is elected in 50 days.\u00a0 The first vice president is\u00a0Muhammad Mukhbar.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficial says rescuers see helicopter that was carrying Iran’s president, others at a distance,\u201d<\/a> AP, 5-19-24.\u00a0 It is more than 12 hours after the crash, on the side of a mountain.\u00a0 Rescuers still have not arrived.<\/p>\n BTW, since taking office in 2021, Raisi has tightened morality laws against women, was in charge during another bloody crackdown on anti-government\u00a0 protesters, and oversaw the continuation of Iran’s nuclear program and its enriching uranium close to weapons-grade levels.\u00a0 They also supplied missiles and bomb-carrying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine.\u00a0 And don’t forget Hamas and the attacks on Israel, including Hezbollah to the north since Oct. 2023 and via proxies throughout the Middle East.\u00a0 And then there’s the unprecedented huge missile and drone attack on Israel.\u00a0\u00a0He’s been busy.<\/p>\n \u201cSaudi Arabia has long relied \u2014 like other Gulf Arab nations \u2014 on the U.S. to be the security guarantor for the wider Middle East as tensions over Iran\u2019s nuclear program in recent years have spilled over into a series of attacks. The proposal now being discussed likely would deepen that, and also reportedly includes access to advanced weapons and possibly trade deals as well. Saudi Arabia has also pushed for nuclear cooperation in the deal that includes America allowing it to enrich uranium in the kingdom \u2014 something that worries nonproliferation experts, as spinning centrifuges opens the door to a possible weapons program. Prince Mohammed has said the kingdom would pursue a nuclear weapon if Iran had one. Iran in recent weeks has increasingly threatened it could do so.\u201d\u00a0 See \u201cBiden national security adviser, Saudi Arabia\u2019s crown prince discuss security deal,\u201d<\/a> Politico, 5-19-24.<\/p>\n Over and over we were told it was a \u201chard landing.\u201d\u00a0 That repeated statement was misleading or even a lie, reflecting how government orders are handled by state media.\u00a0 See BBC, \u201cIran president helicopter in hard landing – state media,\u201d<\/a> 5-19-24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cPresident Raisi\u2019s helicopter crashes in Iran: What we know so far,\u201d Al Jazeera, 5-19-24.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTravelling with Ebrahim Raisi were Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran\u2019s East Azerbaijan Province Governor Malek Rahmati, and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to East Azerbaijan, according to state media. Where did the helicopter fall?\u00a0It … <\/p>\n