A Hamas-affiliated Telegram user took seriously an Israeli joke about a Mossad spy named “Eli Copter” being to blame for the accident, repeating it before removing the message.
Anti-Israel activists and analysts went to social media to blame Israel for the alleged helicopter accident that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday.
Jackson Hinkle, a communist political activist, tweeted a poll asking whether the accident was caused by bad weather or Israel, with the majority of his supporters picking “Israel.” He also shared an image of a helicopter with the caption, “Mossad, it’s never an accident.”
“Only one of the three helicopters in the Iranian President’s Convoy crashed — the helicopter he and the Iranian foreign minister were in,” Hinkle added. “Why is it taking hours to locate the crash site and why is Israel claiming they know the Iranian President died before any Iranian confirmation?”
Maram Susli, a pro-Syrian government analyst, warned on Sunday that “if this is Zionist sabotage, the response will shake Israel to the core.”
Too soon to know if someone played a part in the helicopter accident.
British journalist Richard Medhurst said on Monday that “certain someone” may have been involved in the tragedy, but said it was “too early to tell at this stage.”
According to writer Nadira Ali, Raisi was at the border prior to the accident to dedicate the Qiz-Qalasi Dam joint project with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, whom she accused of being a “Zionist slave.”
“If there is any indication that Israel is behind this incident, you will witness World War III,” Ali said.
A Hamas-affiliated Telegram user took seriously an Israeli joke about a Mossad spy named “Eli Copter” being responsible for the accident, repeating it before removing the message.
Maria Ghanchi