The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran published a preliminary report on the crash of a helicopter with the president. Traces of bullets and “similar damage” on it were not found

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran published a preliminary report on the crash of a helicopter, on board which was the president of the country Ibrahim Raisisi. It is reported by the Iranian agency IRNA.

The report notes that to consider some details of the incident requires “more time”.

According to a preliminary investigation, the helicopter followed the intended route and did not change the flight path. About one and a half minutes before the crash of the pilot of the broken helicopter, he contacted two other helicopters of the flight group.

“There were no traces of gunshot bullets or similar damage on the wreckage of a broken helicopter,” the report said. According to the General Staff, the helicopter caught fire after a collision with the mountain. The investigation also showed that in the conversations of dispatchers with the crew "nothing suspicious was noticed."

• The helicopter, on board of which were eight people, including Iran President Iran Ibrahim Raisisi and the head of the Foreign Ministry Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan, fell on the evening of May 19, when the Iranian delegation returned from Azerbaijan. The fallen helicopter was discovered on the morning of May 20, none of those who were on board during the crash survived.