Helicopter of Iran’s Late President Raisi Crashed Due to Weather, Fars Says

Presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi looks on at a polling station during presidential elections in Tehran, Iran June 18, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi looks on at a polling station during presidential elections in Tehran, Iran June 18, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Helicopter of Iran’s Late President Raisi Crashed Due to Weather, Fars Says

Presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi looks on at a polling station during presidential elections in Tehran, Iran June 18, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi looks on at a polling station during presidential elections in Tehran, Iran June 18, 2021. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The helicopter crash in which Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in May was caused by weather conditions and the aircraft's inability to handle the weight it was carrying, Iran's semi-official news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a security source informed of the final investigation results.

A preliminary report by Iran's military had said in May that no evidence of foul play or attack had been found so far during investigations into the crash.

"The investigation in the case of Raisi's helicopter crash have been completed ... there is complete certainty that what happened was an accident," the security source that was not named told Fars news agency.

Two reasons for the accident were identified: the weather conditions were not suitable and the helicopter was unable to handle the weight, leading to it crashing into a mountain, the source added, according to Fars.

The investigations indicate that the helicopter was carrying two individuals more than the capacity that security protocols dictate, the source told Fars.

Raisi, a hardliner and potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was killed in the crash in mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border.



Russia’s Medvedev Says There Will No Talks with Ukraine After Kursk Incursion 

A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
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Russia’s Medvedev Says There Will No Talks with Ukraine After Kursk Incursion 

A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo, File)
A destroyed Russian tank sits on a roadside near the town of Sudzha, Russia, in the Kursk region, on Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo, File)

Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region means there will be no talks between Moscow and Kyiv until Ukraine is completely defeated on the battlefield, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, said on Wednesday.

"The casual chit-chat of self-proclaimed intermediaries on the virtuous subject of peace has ceased. Even if they cannot say it out loud, everyone recognizes the reality of the situation," Medvedev wrote on his official account on the Telegram messaging app.

"They understand that there will be NO NEGOTIATIONS UNTIL THE ENEMY IS COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DESTROYED!"

Medvedev, who has styled himself as one of the Kremlin's toughest anti-Western hawks, said that the "premature and unnecessary peace" talks that had previously been suggested "had vague prospects and no tangible outcomes."