Social media has been awash with false information following the news of an accident involving a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi.A video of a helicopter crashing in a mountainous area, viewed 1.6m times, claims to show President Raisi’s helicopter in Iran’s East Azarbaijan province.But BBC Verify has confirmed that the video dates back to July 2022, showing a border police rescue helicopter crashing in Gudauri, Georgia.An image, viewed nearly 100,000 times, falsely claims to show wreckage of the helicopter carrying Raisi.But the image appeared in a 2019 report about a helicopter crash in Morocco.An unfounded rumour that claims Iran’s state TV has suspended its normal programming to announce Raisi’s death has also been widely shared.However, state TV has not suspended its coverage, and continues to air updates on the ongoing search and rescue efforts to locate the helicopter.A deleted tweet by Iran’s Fars news agency, closely affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards Corps, shared an image of Raisi near a helicopter, claiming his helicopter had safely landed.However, the image of Raisi was captured during rescue efforts after nationwide floods in July 2022, and the fate of the helicopter and those on board remains unknown.



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