Iranian President And FM Issued Threats Against Israel – And Perished In Helicopter Crash

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, who was confirmed dead Monday morning in a helicopter crash near Azerbaijan, had issued threats against Israel just a month ago, soon after the Iranian missile attack on Israel.

Raisi spoke during a visit to Pakistan, stating that “an Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime,” according to the official IRNA news agency.

Raisi had also pledged his continued support to Hamas, stating in a speech in Lahore that “The Islamic Republic of Iran will honorably continue to support the Palestinian resistance.”

The hardline 63-year-old had often expressed anti-Israel sentiments and was known as the “hangman of Iran” for his ruthless treatment of all attempts to challenge the regime of the Ayatollahs.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, a hard-liner close to the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also died in the helicopter crash state media reported Monday. He was 60.

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

— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) May 20, 2024

Amirabdollahian had also threatened Israel in the wake of the Iranian missile attack, stating that Iran’s response if Israel would take any further military action against it would be “immediate and at a maximum level.”

“In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level,” Amir-Abdollahian told CNN’s Erin Burnett in an exclusive interview in New York on April 19th.

Seven other people died in the helicopter crash, including other senior government officials.