Iran Denies Turkish Claims of Finding Raisi Crash Site

Iran International Newsroom
Rescue team members works following at the scene. of a crash of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, in East Azarbaijan Province, Iran, May 20.
Rescue team members works following at the scene. of a crash of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, in East Azarbaijan Province, Iran, May 20.

The General Staff of Iran's Armed Forces has officially denied Turkey's claim that its Akinci drone located the crash site of the helicopter carrying the late President Ebrahim Raisi.

In a statement released on Wednesday, it asserted that “the exact location of the helicopter crash was determined by Iranian armed forces' ground rescue teams and drones.”

Despite Turkey sending a drone equipped with night-vision and thermal cameras, Iran insists that due to the lack of "under-cloud point detection and control" capabilities, the Turkish drone failed to accurately pinpoint the crash site and subsequently returned to Turkey.

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a day of national mourning in solidarity with Tehran and touted the drone’s success as a demonstration of Turkey's unmanned aerial capabilities, Iranian media and military figures have labeled his claims as "inaccurate."

Over 2.5 million people tracked the operational data and flight path of the Akinci drone involved in the operation in Iran live.

Meanwhile, in response to reports criticizing the safety conditions of President Raisi's flight, Nournews—a website previously affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council—denied any negligence. It highlighted that the aged helicopter dating back decades, had been under the command of an experienced flight crew and had undergone all necessary weather condition checks, asserting that all essential safety measures had been taken to secure the flight.

However, despite all precautions, "unexpected weather conditions overpowered the forecasts based on technical and security protocols," Nournews added, responding to the criticisms raised about the weather conditions on the day of the crash and the decision to allow the flight despite the circumstances.