Iranian President presumed dead

[Mike M (the other one)]

(05-22-2024, 09:52 AM)GMDino Wrote: I've been out of the loop for a few days.  Has Iran declared Israel was to blame yet?  So far that accusation has been coming from the usual conspiracy folks on line with a gentle nod from the state media to keep the hate up.

I did see a story where they wanted to say US sanctions "contributed" to the accident.

RIGHT... Sometimes it's better to stay quiet than open mouth and insert foot. The conspiracies are there, and taking hold.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/expert-insight-suspected-cause-helicopter-crash-killed-irans/story?id=110406062

GANYARD: It's possible. You never know. The Israelis have done some amazing operations inside Iran. But we also know that weather was a key problem here, and the fact that there were two other helicopters with the president's helicopter who were able to land, but they lost sight of the president's helicopter – it would suggest that it was probably weather related. But at this point, we'll just have to wait and see. Obviously, the Iranians are never going to admit it if the Israelis did have a hand, and the Israelis probably in this case would not claim responsibility.




https://www.npr.org/2024/05/21/1252441894/iran-helicopter-crash-safety-president-raisi



U.S. sanctions have made spare parts hard to obtain

According to the same paper, after the Shah was overthrown, Iran continued to use many U.S.-made aircraft "but faced difficulty obtaining spare parts due to American sanctions."
Iran's semiofficial Mehr News Agency in March quoted the deputy of the scientific department of knowledge-based economy development, Javad Mashayekh, as saying that the country had finally become 100% self-sufficient in supplying airplane spare parts. It did not say anything specifically about parts for helicopters.





https://www.livemint.com/news/world/ebrahim-raisi-assassinated-many-suspect-israels-role-behind-iran-presidents-death-officials-clarify-11716202227544.html



Ebrahim Raisi 'assassinated'? Many suspect Israel's role behind the Iranian President's death, officials clarify



Many people have speculated that Ebrahim Raisi, the hardline President of Iran – who was killed in a helicopter crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border – was assassinated. They suspect the involvement of Iran's arch-enemy, Israel, in the killing. 



“Iran President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash. I suspect this was an assassination. We will see if Iran will investigate thoroughly. I suspect Israel is behind this," a social media user said on Monday.

Another user dubbed Raisi "a major strategist behind Iran's proxy wars against Israel, the US and Saudi Arabia". The user said, “...he also brutally crushed dissent, torturing and killing people who spoke up against him."
Questions have also been raised about the potential involvement of domestic foes, given Raisi's “controversial tenure".