“If you stay in (the Marines), it’s not IF your helicopter crashes, it’s WHEN” — told to me during helicopter training
After hours of speculation, Iranian news agencies are now stating that Iranian President Raisi has died in a helicopter crash along with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and others [1].
![Red Crescent via FARS News Agency Red Crescent via FARS News Agency](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fec6e5d9c-6301-4253-87d9-ffee74cb6e60_1600x900.jpeg)
Conditions during the flight were incredibly foggy (seen below), combine this with the mountainous regions and the ‘reliability’ of helicopters makes for a very dangerous scenario. As per the Iranian Constitution, Vice President Mohammed Mokhber is set to assume (at least temporarily) the role of President.
If we recall circumstances around the death of Kobe Bryant, the situations seem very similar. The debris field of the two crashes seem relatively consistent (further supporting the idea of a similar incident).
There is much speculation regarding foul play. At this time it is purely that, speculation. With the information known now (Sunday night), I would guess it was pilot error. If the conditions were as bad as pictured above, the flight never should have left the ground.
In closing a few key notes. First, the Iranian government has a lot of branches (of which I know little). Second, and I sadly think this is a thing many if not most Americans will get wrong. The President is NOT the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is still alive. Interestingly, some thought that Raisi could have been Khamenei’s successor [2]. Lastly, I don’t think much will change policy wise in Iran. The rest of the government, including Khamenei, is still there.