Armed Forces General Staff Claims 'Our Drones' Were Unavailable, Agreed to Turkey's Proposal to Locate Helicopter

On June 2, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic released an official statement claiming that Turkey played no role in locating the helicopter of Ebrahim Raisi and his companions, and that the Akıncı drone 'failed to accurately announce the crash site due to lack of detection and control equipment under the clouds, ultimately returning to Turkey.' Despite the presence of a Turkish media team at the crash site and detailed visual reports of the helicopter's fall, the statement claims that the discovery of the 'exact point of the helicopter crash' was conducted by 'ground rescue forces and Iranian Armed Forces drones.' According to state media, the General Staff claimed that the reason for seeking assistance from other countries was that the 'advanced drones' of the army 'equipped with SAR radar' were on a mission in the northern Indian Ocean, and thus 'agreed to the proposal [for assistance] from the nearest country, Turkey.' In response to public mockery regarding the incompetence of the Islamic Republic and the media and drone prowess of Turkey, the Iranian Armed Forces claimed that 'ground rescue forces and Iranian Armed Forces drones, which had been called back from a mission in the northern Indian Ocean,' discovered the exact point of the incident 'in the early hours of Monday, 17 hours after the helicopter crash.' IRGC officials have repeatedly attempted to attribute the discovery of the helicopter wreckage and the bodies of officials to Iranian-made drones. This effort was rendered fruitless by the live broadcast of the Akıncı search operation, leaving unanswered the question of why the Islamic Republic's media claims about Iran's drone power and the IRGC have no practical application for domestic requirements, aside from civilian casualties in Ukraine and attacks on commercial ships by Houthis. Concurrently with the funerals of the victims of the helicopter crash in the forests of northwestern Iran, a Turkish news network published clear images of its reporter at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Islamic Republic leaders. In these close-up images, the wreckage of the helicopter is seen in the forested area of Dizmar in the mountainous heights, and the Turkish reporter describes and explains the location and incident. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization and other state media have yet to publish any independent images of the crash site and the affected helicopter, and during the 17 hours when the status of the helicopter's occupants and the outcome of the crash were unclear, the country's media only reflected and republished the statements of some officials. Another point that was criticized by some government supporters and mocked by opponents of the Islamic Republic was the assistance of the Turkish drone in finding the remains of the Islamic Republic's president, despite numerous claims by government and IRGC officials about Iran's self-sufficiency in producing various drones and night-vision helicopters. The Turkish drone 'Akıncı,' which entered the Varzeqan area at around 1 AM at the request of the Iranian government, was able to provide the Iranian side with the precise coordinates of the bodies and helicopter wreckage less than two hours later with its night vision capability and thermal radars. However, IRGC officials later attempted to attribute the discovery of the helicopter wreckage and the bodies of officials to Iranian-made drones. Some in Iran also claimed that the coordinates provided by the Turkish drone were 10 kilometers away from the crash site. While Turkey became the main player in the search operation for senior Iranian officials, the leaders of the Iranian government simultaneously requested assistance from Russia, the European Union, and the United States in this regard. Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, told reporters on Monday, May 31, that 'the Islamic Republic had requested help from the United States to find traces of Ebrahim Raisi and his companions; we responded positively to the Iranian government's request for assistance, but due to logistical issues, we were unable to provide help.' Ebrahim Raisi, the head of the government, and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic, along with their entourage, were killed in an air accident in East Azerbaijan on Sunday evening. The head of Raisi's office stated, 'I spoke several times with Al-Hashem by phone up to three hours after the incident.' Other images show the moment the motorcycle rescue team arrived at the helicopter wreckage and the bodies of the Raisi delegation. The management meeting for the search for Raisi and his companions; the commander of the IRGC: 'Maybe it opened, jumped down.' Different reactions from athletes and champions to the death of Ebrahim Raisi.