Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Helicopter Crash

Overview

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Helicopter Crash refers to a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashing in the northeastern part of Iran on May 19th, 2024, killing all people on board. The accident was followed by a multi-hour search operation for the helicopter before the crash site was discovered. The event spawned viral discussions on social media as it spread online, as well as many memes often celebrating his death and conspiracy theories speculating about who could've been behind the incident.

Background

On May 19th, 2024, at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time, a helicopter carrying Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minster Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, two other government officials and three crew members, crashed in a mountainous area of the East Azerbaijan region of Iran.^[1] Following the crash, initially reported as a hard landing, a search-and-rescue operation was launched. Initial reposts^[2] indicated that Raisi survived the landing, but were soon refuted.

Ten hours after the incident, a Turkish drone aiding the search operation identified a heat source in the area of the crash, with the official government agency confirming the discovery one hour later.

Rescuers who arrived at the crash site found no survivors, with the Iranian officials later confirming the death of Ebrahim Raisi and other passengers on board. Several videos of rescue teams carrying bodies from the crash site were circulated on social media in late May 2024 (example seen below).^[3]

BREAKING: TRANSFERRING OF BODIES FROM HELICOPTER CRASH INVOLVING IRAN PRESIDENT RAISI pic.twitter.com/b8J78VC0S0

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) May 20, 2024

Developments

Assassination Theories

While the incident was reported to have taken place in a mountainous region in poor weather conditions, which was deemed the most probable contributing factor to the crash, drone footage of a person in the vicinity of the crash site was circulated on social media, with some users alleging human involvement.^[4]

Iran discusses this image along with "assassination" allegations.

A person was detected in drone footage near the wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Ibrahim Raisi. pic.twitter.com/iWR7ljRuC9

— Globe Eye News (@GlobeEyeNews) May 20, 2024

Reactions

The crash became a viral subject of discussions on social media as users shared reports of the crash, videos of people reacting to it, and joked about the incident. With Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi seen as a divisive figure by many, users both expressed condolences and celebrated over his death.

A video of Iranian migrants celebrating in London following the confirmation of Raisi's death was widely circulated on social media (shown below).^[5]

This morning Iranians in London seem very happy. https://t.co/bN82BLLUdx pic.twitter.com/iD3r2OqS2d

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) May 20, 2024

Several videos of fireworks being set off in Tehran following the news were also circulated on social media around May 19th.^[6][7]

The initial report of the helicopter crash and later the news of Raisi's death inspired various jokes. For example, on May 19th, 2024, the satirical X account @TheMossadIl posted a meme that received over 4,500 reposts and 33,000 likes on X^[8] in one day (shown below, left).

On May 20th, X^[9] user @greg16676935420 posted a meme referencing the 2023 OceanGate Titanic Submarine Incident that received over 100 reposts and 760 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi meeting up with Kobe Bryant: pic.twitter.com/Qf9kFhoGZY

— Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) May 19, 2024

Search Interest

External References