Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi tragically died in a plane crash while returning from a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, on May 19. The unexpected death of President Raisi has raised numerous questions and speculations. Experts from Daryo, including Middle East expert and political scientist Farhod Karimov, and economic analyst Shuhrat Rasul, have shared their insights on the matter.
"We have to wait for the conclusions of the investigation opened by Iran. According to the preliminary investigation, the helicopter crashed into a rock as a result of heavy fog. Even in today's modern world, we hear about airplanes and helicopters crashing all the time. In fact, helicopters are not a very reliable means of transportation," said economic analyst Shuhrat Rasul.
Political scientist Farhod Karimov elaborated on various assumptions surrounding the incident, suggesting that there might be more to the story.
"Actually, there are reasonable grounds for the emergence of various questions. According to Iranian officials, the main cause of the disaster was natural fog. But some issues are creating the basis for the emergence of some opinions. Now official Tehran has not said anything about the fact that some external forces are behind this tragedy. If in reality there was an intervention of external forces, Iran would have covered this issue differently."
Karimov pointed out several key concerns that have arisen.
"First, why did 2 of the 3 helicopters make it to the end of the route? However, they were supposed to monitor and guard the president's helicopter. They had to take action when the connection was lost. He could not even determine the location of the president. It took 5 hours to determine the coordinates of the presidential helicopter. Why were 2 helicopters not involved in determining the coordinates of the missing helicopter? The fact that there are no answers to these questions gives rise to various assumptions."
The political scientist also touched on regional tensions and internal political conflicts as potential factors.
"Secondly, the situation in the region has not been peaceful recently. For example, Iran recently came close to a military conflict with Israel. In such a case, naturally everyone's guess goes to Iran's number one enemy in the region. True, Israel rejected it. But complete information is not provided. For example, when the president of Poland crashed in the forests of Russia, they gave detailed information about the crash. But this tragedy raises many questions because it is not being fully explained. Thirdly, there is a specific political contradiction inside Iran. When Ali Khamenei's brother was a minister, a criminal case was opened against him, and he was even arrested. At that time, Ibrahim Raisi was the chairman of the court. If you say that you are looking for a reason from within, there are appropriate 'hooks'. For example, in the case of the assassination of General Kasim Suleimani, it is assumed that the coordinator was told from the inside. Because if someone did not provide accurate information from the inside, it was difficult to know where he was," said Karimov.
The search for the crashed helicopter took more than 10 hours due to heavy fog and the challenging mountainous terrain. Experts suggest that the disaster may have resulted from a technical failure or human error. In the wake of President Raisi's death, Iran has declared five days of mourning. The funeral ceremony for President Raisi will be held on May 23 in the city of Mashhad. Early presidential elections are scheduled for June 28.
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