Three months after a helicopter crash claimed the life of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, the Islamic Republic remains tight-lipped about the true cause of his death.

The crash occurred on May 19 in northwestern Iran, with Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian among those killed while returning from a dam project visit. Two other helicopters carrying members of Raisi’s official delegation landed safely.

On Thursday, conflicting reports emerged from within Iran’s obscure power structure. The IRGC-affiliated Fars News agency claimed the investigation was complete, citing an unnamed security source who blamed bad weather and an overloaded aircraft. However, the Armed Forces General Staff’s communications center quickly shot down this report by labeling it completely false.

Meanwhile, Iran’s High Commission claims that the weather was fine that day and no distress call was made. Furthermore, there was only a mere 69-second gap between the last radio contact with the pilots and the crash.

As a young cleric, Raisi served on the infamous “Death Commission” that oversaw the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s. His ruthless campaign of terror solidified Raisi’s reputation as a merciless enforcer of the regime’s will, earning him the moniker “The Butcher of Tehran.”

Raisi’s rise to power in 2021 was a sham election, orchestrated by the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to consolidate his grip on the nation. The president’s ultraconservative views and loyalty to the regime made him the perfect puppet for Khamenei’s authoritarian agenda.

With the cause of death still not yet determined, conspiracy theories continue to run rampant, ranging from sabotage by a foreign entity to an inside job possibly orchestrated by Khamenei’s son