[AdmSmith]

This is one of issues driving the rumor mill:

Ebrahim Raisi’s chief of staff, Gholam-Hossein Esmaeili, has in an interview with Iran’s state TV given a detailed account of their phone calls with Ayatollah Ale-Hashem, one of the companions of Raisi following the crash, saying he was still alive a few hours after the incident.

https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/1792966492490760433

!

[Rockingham]

Odd, very odd. Perhaps the Mossad was taking advantage of the crash to sow controversy in a spoofed phone call.

[SunkenCiv]

Thx.

[AdmSmith]

Three former presidents of Iran Mohammad Khatami, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Rouhani were not seen in photographs from Raisi’s funeral ceremony. They, however, sent messages of condolences. Their apparent absence at the ceremony, a rare occurrence in Iranian politics, has sparked discussions about the current political landscape.

Khatami and Rouhani referred to Raisi as a “martyr” in their messages, whereas Ahmadinejad extended condolences without using the term “martyr.” The death of officials while on duty is considered ‘martyrdom’ in the Islamic Republic.
Ahmadinejad also sparked controversy on Tuesday by wearing white, instead of black, during a meeting of the Assembly of Experts.

https://x.com/IranIntl_En/status/1793251217432252904