Old photo of Iran president misrepresented after helicopter crash
- Published on May 20, 2024 at 22:07
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Bad news for Zionists.. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is safe," says a May 19, 2024 post on X.
Similar posts claim the picture -- which shows Raisi disembarking a red-and-white helicopter in a mountainous area -- proves he was "safe," made an "emergency landing" or "survived" a crash.
The Iranian president was confirmed dead May 20, sparking mourning in the Islamic republic after an all-night search and rescue effort located the mangled wreckage.
None of the nine people aboard the aircraft survived. The chopper lost radio contact May 19 as Raisi was returning from East Azerbaijan province, where he inaugurated a dam project.
The picture circulating online is unrelated to the fatal crash.
A reverse image search surfaced the photo on the stock image website Alamy, which says it was taken July 30, 2022 as Raisi visited the flood-ravaged region of Firouzkouh (archived here).
The Iranian president's website published the same photo that day alongside others from the visit (archived here).
The trip came after floods wreaked havoc across Iran, killing at least 80 people and leaving dozens more missing. Other photos show Raisi donning the same black turban and religious robe at the site of a flash flood.
The chopper carrying Raisi on May 19, meanwhile, was a blue and white Bell 212 helicopter -- not the aircraft from the 2022 picture.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Raisi's death in Arabic here, here and here.
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