The Wire - May 20, 2024 - PRIORITY

this is the wire for 2200 Zulu May 20th 2024 precedences priority information cut off as 2100 bottom line up front Iranian president killed in helicopter crash Saudi king hospitalized with infection South Carolina ports offline due to cyber issue beginning with international events in Iran yesterday a helicopter carrying the Iranian president and other VIPs crashed in the mountains just north of tavil according to Iranian State media one of the survivors was able to make a distress call via satellite phone before contact was lost upon notification of the incident a neighboring Turkish military drone was dispatched to conduct an aerial search of the extremely remote terrain just south of the Iran aeran Border the Turkish drone identified a large Heat Signature in the vicinity of grid 38 Sierra Papa Hotel 47399 2367 ground search Crews later identified this location as the crash site no survivors were found at the site and Iranian State media has confirmed the deaths of Iranian president Ibrahim RI and foreign minister Hussein Amira abdollahyan among others in Saudi Arabia Saudi State media confirmed that King Solomon has been hospitalized following a recent illness analyst comment their reports are contradictory King Solon has possibly been hospitalized due to pneumonia and or a more General respiratory infection due to contradicting reports it's not clear as to if King Solomon is currently hospitalized or if he was merely examined at aital hospital as an outpatient regardless this is his second hospitalization in less than a month as a reminder King Solomon handed over most Royal duties to his son Crown Prince Muhammad bin Solomon a few years ago however King Solomon still wields considerable status throughout the Middle East in similar fashion to most aging monarchs that have provided an era of generational stability throughout the continent for decades if King Solomon's health is declining this could signal a new era of instability as the world seeks to test the Crown Prince as he fully steps into the role of Monarch in Slovakia various government ministers have indicated that prime minister fito's situation is improving and that the most serious risk to his life have been averted however it will take more time to determine his overall condition due to the continuing severity of his wounds in Burkina Faso various anti-establishment media channels reported another attack on Captain Ibrahim Tori's residence Saturday night multiple gunmen conducted Small Arms attacks at the main gate of the presidential Palace in wagadugu analyst comment it's not clear as to if this was a substantial attack or a shoot and Scoot style Skirmish this is at least the sixth attempt on Captain ibrahim's life since seizing power 2 years ago in the red seah Horn of Africa region over the weekend houthi forces successfully struck another oil tanker the merchant vessel wind person com statement Saturday night Coalition vessels responded to the wind's distress call as the wind had lost steering and was taking on water after a few hours the crew was able to restore functionality and egress from the area under her own power on the home front in South Carolina a collection of ports have been shut down temporarily following undisclosed software issues the South Carolina Port Authority originally stated this morning that cargo terminals would only be offline for a few hours however the timeline for Recovery has been pushed back multiple times today analyst comment it is unclear as to if this software issue is affecting all South Carolina ports or just the main North Charleston Terminal in any case cargo on and offloading has come to a halt while the issue is being mitigated andless comments for this wire many technical details surrounding the Iranian helicopter crash do not fit within known Iranian military Doctrine or otherwise do not make sense based on the aerial imagery provided by Iranian media after search Crews located the crash site it is extremely unlikely that anyone survived the impact only the tail section of the helicopter remained relatively intact whereas the rest of the crash site is extremely indicative of a high-speed Collision as such these obvious details cast doubt on the satellite phone call that allegedly prompted the initial search a passenger surviving the crash long enough to make a satellite phone call is possible however due to the white out conditions that possibly led to the crash in the first place it is unlikely that anyone wounded would have survived such extreme temperatures for almost 24 hours with minimal or without survival gear Iranian State media issuing directly contradictory information following such an incident is standard and to be expected following an incident of this magnitude however what is unexpected is the immediate declaration by Iranian authorities that this was an accident caused by bad weather and restricting visibility considering the capability for Iran to point the finger at any number of other nations immediately going with an accident story is interesting the palpable elephant in the room is illustrated by the grand question was this the result of an act of sabotage at the moment only a forensic examination of the evidence at hand will provide more clarity as to the potential for any nefarious activities right now the biggest indicator of Nefarious intent is purely speculative Instinct world leaders critical of certain parties suddenly being shot hospitalized or killed in a helicopter crash within a few days is quite coincidental and very suspicious even considering the complete lack of correlating information at present though suspicious timing alone cannot be treated the same as definitive proof absolutely perfect and airtight Smoking Gun evidence is not necessary for basic risk assessment at the operational level nor is it needed in order for world leaders to take heed of the heightened risk to their personal safety that comes with the unprecedented tensions currently tightening around the world in other words no one can prove this incident was an assassination but the various world leaders in similar diplomatic positions would likely benefit from treating it as such just to be on the safe side regarding this specific helicopter crash nefarious intent may be easy to assess but factoring in nefarious actions may be more difficult considering the overall situation flying in such mountainous and rugged terrain is exceptionally dangerous under the best of conditions and outright fatal in even the slightest inclement weather contrary to popular belief most helicopter Pilots rely on visual cues to fly even for the most experienced IFR rated helicopter pilot it is an uncomfortable Prospect to fly at high altitude where the aircraft engines are already struggling due to the lack of oxygen and the rotor blade strained to generate lift through the thinning air in narrow Canyons with no visibility if the weather was indeed as bad as Iranian State television claims it was which can happen in mere seconds in such mountains a normal flying day can transition into a nightmare scenario faster than a suitable land site can be found what is more interesting are the overall circumstances of the incident along with the details of rescue attempts for instance it is strange that an aircraft full of VIPs was flying alone instead of in Echelon with a sister ship most world leaders of such notoriety would be expected to fly with at least one other helicopter escort purely for maintenance and security reasons a sister ship is also absolutely vital in the event that something happens to one of the aircraft having an aerial asset immediately on hand to check for survivors ready for help and coordinate emergency landing zones is why almost all militaries around the world to include the hellborn transportation used by almost every other world leader includes at least a pair of aircraft not just one airframe other details likely to cause International embarrassment are that Iran had to request assistance to locate the helicopter of their own president from another Nation turkey the search and rescue operation being headed up by the Iranian red crescent instead of an irgc military unit is also quite telling understanding the difficulties of conducting search and rescue operations in such inhospitable and remote terrain the lack or failure of technical search and rescue sensors Andor radios provides a wealth of information to the world regarding how seriously Iran treats threats to including Clement weather in other words if the average tourist hiker climbing the neighboring peaks in turkey has better access to search and rescue assets via consumer grade devices this does not bode well for the capabilities of a nation state as such the transportation and security of Iranian officials especially the Ayatollah is almost certainly being reexamined following this incident only time will tell whether or not this incident was sabotage however considering the multiple high-risk practices illustrated by this incident world leaders with similar travel habits are likely to take note of both the technical vulnerabilities as well as the coincidental nature of recent security incidents that have taken place around the world this concludes the wire for 2200 Zulu May 20th 2024