The Iranian government reached out to American diplomats for help after a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian went down in foggy weather in northern Iran, Politico reports.
The State Department said the US military prepared to brief and deploy search teams in the effort, but it was for naught: before American personnel could set out, the helicopter wreckage was located. “We said that we would be willing to assist–something that we would do with respect to any government in this situation,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a media briefing Monday. “Ultimately, largely for logistical reasons, we weren’t able to provide that assistance.”
Senior US officials are also wary of Iran’s reaction to the helicopter crash, with special concern for potential conspiracy theories that the US and/or Israel sponsored or conducted an act that brought down the craft. Politically, Iran will remain relatively stable under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who along with other religious leaders will determine a pool of potential successors for Raisi in upcoming elections. US officials, however, fear conspiratorial-minded branches of Iranian-backed terror groups could attack American or Israeli interests in retribution regardless of official investigation outcomes.