President of Iran Raisi Killed in Helicopter Crash!

[shalom]

This might accelerate prophetic events!

[J.J.Gibbs]

Won't do any good - Satan doesn't answer prayers!

Iranians Asked to Pray for President Raisi After Helicopter Goes Missing

Joel B. Pollak

19 May 2024
2:05

Iranians have been asked to pray for the safety of President Ebrahim Raisi after his helicopter went missing on the way back from a meeting Sunday with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.

The helicopter was also carrying Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, among other officials. It went missing in heavy fog in the mountainous region of northwestern Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian listens to a question in a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Tehran, Iran, Monday, July 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The official Fars news agency asked Iranians to pray, according to the Times of Israel:

Authorities have lost contact with the helicopter in which Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was traveling, according to the Iranian Fars news agency.

…

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi says authorities are awaiting further details on the search and rescue operation, adding that teams are still on the way to the apparent crash site due to difficult weather conditions.

Fars calls on Iranians to pray for Raisi following the reports.

Earlier Sunday, the Abu Ali Express news blog reported on the meeting between Raisi and Aliyev, saying that it had been “disturbing” from Israel’s point of view, because Azerbaijan has been friendly with Israel until now.

There is no indication of foreign actors playing a role in the crash. Earlier, as Breitbart News reported, U.S. officials had met indirectly with Iranian officials in Oman to discuss ways to avoid a broader regional war.

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[shalom]

Iran President Raisi MISSING in Helicopter Crash; "Butcher of Tehran" Dead? | Watchman Newscast LIVE

[maybetoday]

From Amir's Telegram:

Iranian News Agency: There are no signs of life among the wreckage of the helicopter and all its passengers, including the Iranian president and foreign minister, died in the crash.

Even in his death Raisi managed to kill his own people. At least three rescuers died during the search!

[ExquisiteGerbil]

Breaking News: Iranian President Raisi Dead

[shalom]

Iran President Raisi MISSING in Helicopter Crash; "Butcher of Tehran" Dead? | Watchman Newscast LIVE

[ExquisiteGerbil]

‘Martyred’: Iranian Media Declare Raisi Dead; ‘No Sign’ of Life at Helicopter Crash Site

Elizabeth Weibel

19 May 2024

3:08

Search teams have reportedly located the site where a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, crashed on Sunday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the state’s news agency.

There was “no sign’ of life, according to Iranian state television (via the Times of Israel).

State-run media also declared that Raisi had died — or, rather, that he had been “martyred.”

The Times of Israel quoted Iran’s Mehr news agency:

“The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, had an accident while serving and performing his duty for the people of Iran and was martyred,” Iran’s Mehr agency says as other media outlets also reported the news.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian and other officials were also reported to have been on board when the helicopter went missing in a mountainous area of the country.
UN General Assembly Iran

The weather conditions were reported to have consisted of fog, rain, and cold weather.

The Times of Israel reported that the Iranian Fars news agency had revealed that while the helicopter carrying the Iranian president had crashed, two other helicopters in the convoy, carrying other officials had arrived safely at their destination.

Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, announced that teams had arrived at the location of the helicopter crash, adding that “the condition is not good,” according to the IRNA’s statement.

Kolivand added that “73 rescue teams are present in the search area of the helicopter in the Tawal village with advanced and specialized equipment.”

People in Iran were asked to pray for president Raisi after the news of the helicopter crash.

Opposition groups were said to be celebrating, setting off fireworks and posting jokes on social media.

If Raisi is confirmed dead, it could set off a succession battle in Iran that has the potential to destabilize the regime.

This is a developing story.

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

It's unusual for helicopter pilots to fly in bad weather like they. Even if they're flying IFR they generally stick to VFR conditions.

Decision to pilot helicopter with Iran’s President an ‘imprudent move’

[songbird]

Iranian Women Celebrate the Death of President Raisi “We Freely Dance and Celebrate on Your Dirty Grave”

by Margaret Flavin 

May. 20, 2024 2:20 pm

The daughters of Minoo Majidi, killed during protests by the brutal regime, celebrate news of Raisi’s death with a toast.

Iranian women are celebrating the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and dancing on his “dirty grave.”

The “Butcher of Tehran” oversaw a brutal crackdown on the protests in 2022 that rose against the Islamic “morality police.”

As reported earlier, a helicopter carrying Iranian President and mass murderer Ebrahim Raisi crashed while visiting a northern region.

The Iranian state reported Raisi’s death.

Raisi oversaw a brutal crackdown on the Iranian people protesting following the murder of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini by regime thugs.

Amini died from injuries sustained at the hands of police after her arrest for the “improper” wearing of a hijab.

Under Raisi, and according to a UN Human Rights Council report earlier this year, the monthslong security crackdown killed more than 500 people, and over 22,000 were detained.

The report also found that Iranian security forces raped and sexually assaulted many of the women in custody.

Brave women in Iran have shared their joyous reactions to Amini’s death on social media.

Watch:

Mersedeh Shahinkar, who was blinded by Iranian security forces after taking part in the mass protests, shared, “We freely dance and celebrate on your dirty grave.”

Shahinkar was joined by Sima Moradbeigi, who lost her right arm after being shot by police during a women’s rights protest.

A mother whose son was executed by Raisi only a few months ago shared a video of her celebration at the news.

Iranian journalist Masih AlinejadI said of the video, “I told you Iranian women are wounded, but unbowed to their oppressors. My social media is flooded with videos of the family members of those killed by the President of the Islamic Republic, celebrating his death.”

Minoo Majidi, 62, was also killed during the protests and her daughters toasted the news of Raisi’s death while the song “Helikopter” by Bosnian singer Fazlija played in the background.

“For the death of a bloody dictator like #Raisi in memory of the many women murdered and the many gay and non-gay young people hanged because they asked for freedom. Always on the side of those brave revolutionaries”

Under Raisi’s rule, the Iranian men and women who protested against the regime’s brutality paid a price for daring to speak up. Protestors faced being fired on with an AK-47 , there was indiscriminate firing on protesters in the street from moving vehicles, the murder of Hadis Najafi , a powerful symbol of the uprisings, the kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder of Nika Shakarimi, and a woman being dragged by police and sexually assaulted by a gang of the Islamic Republic oppressive forces.

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[Midnight]

Biden Administration Slammed for Issuing 'Odd' Statement on Iranian President's Death
By Johnathan Jones May 20, 2024 at 2:40pm

The Biden administration issued a pathetic, groveling and out-of-touch statement on Monday about the Sunday death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Raisi died alongside his country’s foreign minister and a number of other people in a helicopter crash, and fingerpointing at the U.S. over the apparent accident was immediate.

But given the White House’s policy of appeasing terrorists, repressive regimes and repugnant figures such as Raisi, the American government’s take on the death was no real surprise.

It also wasn’t surprising that within hours of the U.S. State Department’s pathetic issuing of “condolences” for Iran’s government, the White House was met with backlash by sane people.

In a statement attributed to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, the Biden administration said, “The United States expresses its official condolences for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, and other members of their delegation in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran.

“As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Not to suggest a celebration of Raisi’s death is in order. God values human lives — even those of repressive Islamists such as a man who was a favorite to succeed Iran’s aging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But we have to assume the man died without accepting Christ’s gift of salvation, so Raisi’s book has been written and closed.

As The Times of Israel noted, Raisi spent a lifetime earning himself the nickname “The Butcher of Tehran.”

The U.S. government could have stayed silent about the death of a man whose government kills people for challenging its oppressive domestic policies and calls for the death and destruction of both Christians and Jews.

Iran is a menace to its neighbors — and to the world — and is actively seeking nuclear weapons, so Raisi’s death is not exactly a huge loss.

In short order, Iran will find another lunatic to be the face of supporting the destruction of Israel and the funding of proxy fighters that will target Americans.

That was why Miller’s statement received so much attention.

To say the State Department and the Biden White House were criticized online over its offering of “condolences” over Raisi’s demise would be an understatement:

It is not clear yet who will replace Raisi in a mostly symbolic role, but if the past is any indication of the future, the Biden administration will probably force U.S. taxpayers to partially fund that person’s government.

The lunacy will continue unabated with or without Raisi at the helm, and Iran’s punishing and dangerous approach to both foreign and domestic policy will go on as it has since 1979.

Until Iran’s people have collectively had enough to organize to a degree to which they can overthrow their leaders, Iran will remain an enemy of freedom and humanity and a pariah on the world stage.

Until the citizens of this country throw out people like President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, we can expect nothing but more virtue signaling to our enemies.

At least The Washington Post had not eulogized Raisi as an austere scholar in the study of murder as of Monday evening.

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[Midnight]

Former Iranian Official Blames US for President's Death, Says Crash Will Be 'Recorded in the Black List'

By Johnathan Jones 

May 20, 2024 at 12:34pm

A former Iranian diplomat is putting some of the blame for the Sunday death of the country’s president at the feet of the United States, according to a report.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was traveling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other individuals when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed into a mountain in the country’s northwest near Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller offered “condolences” on behalf of the U.S. government upon hearing the news.

But it did not take long for one former Iranian official to point the finger at Washington.

Citing Iranian state media, Business Insider reported on Monday morning that the country’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, blamed U.S. sanctions that prevent the country from buying newer aircraft for forcing Raisi and the others to fly in a decades-old Bell 212 chopper.

The helicopters were made in the U.S. between 1968 and 1998.

It was not clear what year the model Raisi was traveling in when it went down on Sunday, but Zarif told his country’s media that U.S. sanctions imposed in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution have kept the country from operating fleets of modern aircraft.

The official told an Iranian TV station that Raisi’s death in the outdated chopper would be “recorded in the black list of American crimes against the Iranian nation.”

The Associated Press spoke to Zarif on Monday and he doubled down on blaming America for the crash.

“One of the main culprits of yesterday’s tragedy is the United States, which … embargoed the sale of aircraft and aviation parts to Iran and does not allow the people of Iran to enjoy good aviation facilities,” he told the AP.

The wire service reported Bell 212 helicopters such as the one that killed Raisi are commonly used by Tehran.

Iran’s aircraft are outdated, and flights often take off without safety checks that are routine in countries with more up-to-date aviation sectors.

At least 15 Bell 212 helicopters with an average age of 35 years old are believed to be operating in the country, according to the AP.

Because sanctions prevent Iran from ordering newer aircraft, parts for repairs for the choppers are often purchased on the international black market.

No official cause for Sunday’s crash has been announced.

USA Today reported the helicopter that crashed was one of three traveling together in a convoy.

The three choppers were navigating the mountainous region in heavy fog and in “blizzard conditions,” it said.

After a search that began on Sunday, the remains of Raisi and the seven others were located early Monday morning.

Raisi came to power in 2021 and was viewed by many as a successor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Reuters reported.

Celebrations broke out after the leader’s death was reported.

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[Midnight]

Iranians Break Into Celebration as Notoriously Brutal President Is Confirmed Dead

By Jack Davis

May 20, 2024 at 7:16am

As official mourning for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was declared by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, other Iranians at home and abroad celebrated his death.

Early Monday, rescue teams found the charred wreckage of the helicopter that went down Sunday carrying Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and six other passengers and crew, according to Reuters.

All aboard the chopper were killed when it went down in a remote region while returning from neighboring Azerbaijan.

The 63-year-old Raisi had been president since 2021 and clamped down fiercely against dissent and protests in 2022.

As NBC News noted, he acquired the nickname “Butcher of Tehran” after the execution of several thousand political prisoners following the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.

That and other repressive actions led to multiple people in Iran and elsewhere posting videos to social media to celebrate Raisi’s death.

Among those celebrating were Mersedeh Shahinkar and Sima Moradbeigi, who showed themselves dancing and smiling.

Shahinkar was blinded during the 2022 protests; Moradbeigi lost the use of one arm after a guard shot her.

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said Raisi’s death represented a “monumental strategic blow to the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the entire regime,” voicing the hope that it could lead to a rebellion, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

“The curse of mothers and those seeking justice for the executed, along with the damnation of the Iranian people and history, mark the legacy of Ebrahim Raisi, the notorious perpetrator of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners,” she said.

Although Raisi is gone, the regime that installed him as president remains, Sima Shine, a former senior official in the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, told The New York Times.

“From Israel’s point of view, I don’t see any achievement in his being replaced by some other radical conservative Iranian,” Shine said. “The president is not the most important person in Iran.”

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[shalom]

Raisi Crash: Rescuers Drop A Bombshell; Reveal Chopper's 'Key Device Missing Or Turned Off'

[ExquisiteGerbil]

Video Appears to Show Iranian Soldier Ripping Pants While Carrying Coffin of Late Foreign Minister

John Hayward

24 May 2024

1:17

Iranian opposition website Iran International on Thursday highlighted a few pratfalls at the elaborate state funerals for President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and others killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

In one instance, an Iranian military honor guard had trouble keeping in formation while carrying the coffin of Imam Mohammad-Ali Ale-Hashem in the late man’s home city of Tabriz.

Even more embarrassing was a soldier whose pants apparently ripped while he was struggling with Amir-Abdollahian’s coffin:

Internet wags suggested Iran might blame the torn pants on U.S. sanctions, which Iranian leaders have used as their all-purpose excuse for every policy failure of the past five years. Some Iranian officials blamed U.S. sanctions for depriving Iran of the parts necessary to maintain Raisi’s helicopter properly.

According to Iran International, besides the predictable sick burns on social media, there was some real anger in Iran over how unprofessional the military looked during these funeral services. The dancing pallbearers of Ghana make it all look so easy.

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