Raisi’s sudden and unexpected death is a striking reminder of how unpopular politics and unbelievable incompetence has all but doomed Iran’s military and utility aircraft fleet.
While extremely poor weather conditions were likely the leading cause of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Sunday, the advanced age of the helicopter is something that cannot be simply overlooked.
The crash of the American-made Bell 212 also killed the governor-general of Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province and the Friday prayer leader of Tabriz, East Azerbaijan’s provincial capital. The president was returning from a trip where he met the president of neighboring Azerbaijan to inaugurate a new dam. Why the helicopter was authorized to fly in foggy weather and extremely low visibility in a mountainous region is unclear.
What is clear is the Bell 212, while undoubtedly a durable and venerable helicopter carrying the president and these officials, was most likely 40-50 years old and acquired by Iran under the last shah preceding the 1979 revolution, when Washington and Tehran had warm ties.
(Incidentally, in the 1970s, the last shah had ceased driving around Tehran after two assassination attempts, opting instead to fly over the city via helicopter for security reasons and, thus, unwittingly increasing his isolation from the Iranian population.)
The potentially problematic age of the helicopters ferrying around the Iranian president on his frequent trips across the country was raised in a leaked classified 2023 letter to First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber. (Mokhber will now serve as a caretaker president until the holding of a new presidential election within 50 days.) The letter emphasized Iran’s requirement for two Mi-17A2 helicopters from Russia for a purported cost of $32 million, highlighting the “high frequency” of Raisi’s helicopter flights.
Javad Zarif, the late Amir-Abdollahian’s predecessor as foreign minister, unsurprisingly sought to pin some of the blame on the United States, lamenting that American sanctions “bar Iran from procuring essential aviation parts.
