Helicopter Carrying Raisi 'Completely Destroyed'; Intelligence Agencies Prevent Release of Evidence and Crash Remains

Motorcyclists who arrived first at the site of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi and his companions say they filmed the crash site and bodies, but officials are not allowing the release of the footage 'for security reasons.' According to them, the helicopter carrying the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and his companions was 'completely destroyed,' 'everything was burned,' and recorded evidence exists. One of these motorcyclists, who identified himself as part of the 'popular forces,' described his initial observations of the crash remains, stating that 'Al-Hashem was down,' Ebrahim Raisi and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian 'were together,' and 'the governor was lower than them'; and 'there's footage of it.' They described the rescue situation as 'very disorganized.' One volunteer rescuer stated that they had given the initial footage of the helicopter remains and its occupants to 'the intelligence' and another said it cannot be broadcast 'for security reasons.' The prevention of the release of initial images taken by Iranian volunteer rescuers by the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies comes as Turkish media have published video reports from their journalists showing the wreckage of the helicopter. Reporting on the disappearance of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi and several other officials from the Islamic Republic has been accompanied by multiple contradictions in the statements of officials from the very first hours. Media experts residing in Iran say that with the 'chaos of contradictory news' from domestic media regarding the helicopter crash that resulted in the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage, 'the authority and credibility of our domestic media has once again been called into question against foreign media.' Pejman Mousavi, a journalist, emphasized that 'the audience has the right to distrust domestic media,' posting images of the false news from government agencies, stating that 'when official news agencies lie so brazenly about the head of government and high-ranking officials, why shouldn't they lie about everything?' Simultaneously, as accurate information dissemination is disrupted, following the continued reactions of joy from Iranians inside and outside the country to the death of Ebrahim Raisi due to the helicopter crash, Islamic Republic officials have resorted to threatening and detaining citizens in Iran, announcing that they will 'deal' with anyone who publishes what they deem 'provocative' content about Ebrahim Raisi's death in cyberspace. In this context, so far, Reza Babernaz, the brother of the protesting victim Mahdi Babernaz, has been arrested, a case has been opened against journalist Monijeh Moazzen, and Shaghayegh Mohammadi, the wife of a football player from the Esteghlal team, has also been summoned and threatened by the Ministry of Intelligence. Additionally, intelligence forces in Karaj Central Prison attacked political prisoners for expressing joy over Ebrahim Raisi's death and took them to an 'unknown location'; simultaneously, with the announcement of a five-day 'public mourning' by the Islamic Republic, a human rights source states that political prisoners in Iran have declared five days of 'public food.'