Dudes just a lackey to the supreme leader, no?

Pretty much. The Ayatollah is the head of the religious council. He has to give his blessing to anyone elected president.

Iranian state media calling it a hard landing but local officials described it as a crash. Reports of rain, fog, trees.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/19/world-news/rescuers-respond-to-incident-involving-iranian-president-ebrahim-raisis-helicopter-convoy/

Hmm… will be interesting to see how this plays out…. Can't imagine Israel was behind this, but do believe they could carry it out if they wanted to

Seems unlikely, imho. Mountains/trees, Mi-171 helicopter (older Russian 'Hip' design, I am sure the Russians have not worried about sanctions etc. relative to supporting the Iranian helo fleet) with Azerbaijan president also, relatively little gain. Flying an older helicopter (likely without sophisticated ground proximity alert systems etc) around/in mountains with limited/low visibility is not…well it's not real safe I guess.

When the Israeli's take direct kinetic action against a foreign leader…it is for effect, not show.

Yeah, I highly doubt this was Israel. This was simply ****ty equipment failing.

The Azerbaijan president wasn't on the helo. It's the supreme council mullah rep for the Azerbaijan region of Iran. It's like Mexico vs New Mexico.

Read earlier that this guy was near the top of the list to replace the Ayatollah, who is 85. Rumors that he was among the top two or three and may have been the favorite. Could have been an inside job to eliminate a political rival.

This is rich coming from the ICC

https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801877

I am not surprised that those far off call for charges based on perceptions.

Ag In Ok said:

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This is rich coming from the ICC

https://m.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-801877

I am not surprised that those far off call for charges based on perceptions.

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And everyone involved will laugh at them and keep going.