As Tehran-backed Hezbollah reels from the pager and walkie-talkie blasts a week ago, an Iranian MP has claimed that a pager blast led to the helicopter crash that led to the death of former president Ebrahim Raisi in May.
This comes after at least 39 people were killed and over 3,000 injured in the pager blasts across Lebanon and Syria.
Iranian MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said Raisi used a pager though the model he had could be different from those used by Hezbollah forces. "One likely scenario regarding the deadly helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi is the explosion of his pager," Ardestani said.
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However, Iranian government had released a final investigation report earlier in September, pointing out that severe weather conditions like thick fog were the primary causes of the May helicopter crash.
He added that Iran played a role in the purchase of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon, suggesting that Iranian agencies should also probe the incident.
Last week, a resurfaced photo of Raisi showed a pager kept on a table in the background.
Raisi, who was next in line to succeed Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamanei, took a hardline stance in domestic and international politics. He was a longtime member of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for picking a successor for the supreme leader when he dies.
He became president in 2021 after succeeding Hassan Rouhani. Raisi who was infamous for the 1988 mass execution that shocked the world was known as the "Butcher of Tehran'.
