The Iranian Armed Forces minimize the significance of the Turkish drone’s involvement in locating the crash site of the President

The General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces on Wednesday minimized the significance of a Turkish drone in locating the crash site of President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter, instead emphasizing the effectiveness of its own drones.

On Monday, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported that a Turkish Akinci drone had detected a heat source believed to be the wreckage of the helicopter carrying President Raisi. The drone then provided the coordinates of the suspected debris to Iranian authorities.

“Although Turkey deployed a drone equipped with night vision and thermal cameras, it was unable to precisely identify the crash site due to the absence of detection equipment and control points below the cloud,” stated Iran’s military, attributing the failure to adverse weather conditions, which are believed to have caused the crash.

Iran and Turkey possess extensive drone inventories and have prioritized demonstrating the efficiency of their drones for potential export markets. Iran has been accused by Western nations of supplying drones to Russia for its military operations in Ukraine.

According to sources, Sudan’s army is utilizing Iranian drones in its conflict against the Rapid Support Forces, as reported by Reuters. Tehran has refuted or dismissed such allegations.

The Iranian Armed Forces stated that their advanced drones, which are equipped with synthetic-aperture radar, could not be deployed immediately due to their location in the northern region of the Indian Ocean.

The crash site, where the remains of President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other officials were located, was ultimately discovered on Monday morning by Iranian ground rescue teams and drones that were brought back from the Indian Ocean, as said.

The Iranian state news agency IRNA said that the coordinates provided by the Turkish drones were inaccurate by a distance of 7 kilometers (4 miles).

The Iranian military has selected Turkey, which is geographically close to the accident site in the northwest of Iran, as one of the “friendly countries” to assist in the rescue operation.