Iran probe finds Raisi helicopter crash caused by weather: media

TEHRAN: Iran's investigation into the May helicopter crash that killed president Ebrahim Raisi has found it was caused by bad weather, Iranian media said Wednesday citing an official.

The helicopter carrying 63-year-old Raisi and his entourage came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran, killing the president and seven others, and triggering snap elections.

Fars news agency, quoting an informed security source with knowledge of the conclusions of the probe, said overloading was also behind crash, which the Armed Forces swiftly rejected as "completely false".

The source quoted by Fars said Iranian security forces had "absolute certainty that what happened was an accident".

Iran's army in May similarly said it had found no evidence of criminal activity in the crash that also killed Raisi's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

"The case of the crash of Ayatollah Raisi's helicopter has been fully completed by the regulatory and security institutions," Fars reported.

"The security and intelligence agencies have completed their detailed investigations and there is absolute certainty that what happened was an accident," it added, quoting the source.

Fars gave the main causes of the May 19 crash as bad weather conditions and the helicopter's inability to ascend with extra passengers beyond security protocols.

According to the Fars report, the chopper was carrying two passengers beyond the recommended capacity when it crashed.

But the Iranian Armed Forces "strongly rejected" the reported finding, saying in a statement carried by state media that it was "distorted and discredited".

"What is mentioned on Fars news about the presence of two people in the helicopter against the security protocols... is completely false", it said.