Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and several other officials tragically died in a helicopter crash on May 19 in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. Now, a video depicting a helicopter crash is circulating widely on social media. Those sharing this video claim it shows the helicopter crash involving Iran’s President.
Claim
The video purportedly depicts the helicopter crash involving Iran President Ebrahim Raisi.
Fact
The viral video is approximately two years old and originates from Panama, having no connection to the helicopter crash involving Iran President Ebrahim Raisi.
Social Media Posts
One X user wrote, “Helicopter crash: Accident or conspiracy… A live video of the CCTV camera surfaced. A viral video on social media purports to be of the helicopter of Iran President Ibrahim Raisi.. in which it is claimed that the pilot could not control the helicopter and 9 people lost their lives in the accident.”
Our Verification
After conducting a reverse-search of the keyframes from the viral clip, we discovered that the same video was uploaded to YouTube on August 22, 2022. According to the video’s title, the helicopter crash incident occurred in the South American country of Panama. This indicates that the video is not recent.
We conducted a keyword search and located a video report by 9 News Australia featuring the viral video. According to the report, the incident took place in the jungles of Panama in August 2022. The helicopter had six people on board, including Panamanian politician Dmitri Flores. Despite the crash, all occupants were rescued alive but sustained injuries.
Therefore, it is evident that a two-year-old video from Panama is being erroneously shared as Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash.
