Claim: A photo circulated after the death of Ebrahim Raisi shows Imran Khan standing alongside the late Iranian president.
Fact: The image does not show Imran Khan with Raisi. It was originally posted in July 2023 and shows Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafari, a Pakistani cleric and senator.
On 20 May 2024, Facebook page ‘Verified Karachi’ posted (archive) a picture allegedly showing the incarcerated former prime minister and founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, with the late president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi. The text superimposed on the image reads as follows:
“إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُون ايراني صدر…!! 😭 😢
[We surely belong to Allah and to Him we shall return Iranian president”]”
“الله تعالی درجات بلند فرمای
[May Allah elevate his ranks]”
The caption accompanying the image is as follows:
“إِیَّاکَ نَعْبُدُ وَ إِیَّاکَ نَسْتَعین Today the best Video⚡❤🩹
[It is You whom we worship and You whom we ask for help. Today the best Video⚡❤🩹]”
Raisi, top Iran officials dead in crash
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other top state officials, died (archive) on 19 May 2024 in a helicopter crash in the Dizmar Protected Area, a region in the country’s northwest.
Other officials aboard the flight who died alongside Raisi include the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, Malek Rahmati, the representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader to East Azerbaijan, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, and the head of the president’s security team, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier-General Mohammad Mehdi Mousavi, along with three flight crew members.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), Pir Hossein Kolivand, confirmed (archive) the deaths of all the people inside the ill-fated helicopter.
The late Iranian president was returning from the inauguration of a cooperative dam project, carried out alongside Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. His was the only helicopter among the convoy of three that met the accident, while the other two landed safely.
The helicopter — a US-made Bell 212 — “slammed into a mountain peak” but “there was no official word on the cause of the crash”, according to this report (archive), which cited Iranian state media. “Rescue teams fought rain, blizzards, and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in the early hours of Monday.”
Supreme Leader Khamenei announced (archive) “five days of public mourning” and confirmed (archive) that Iranian Vice President Mohammad Mokhber would take over Raisi’s position. Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani was appointed (archive) as acting foreign minister by the Cabinet.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched the image and found that it does not show the late Iranian president.
The picture was posted on the PTI’s social media pages on 6 July 2023 here and here (archived here and here, respectively) on Instagram and TikTok, respectively.
The caption of the Instagram post by @ptiofficialisb reads as follows:
“چیئرمین پاکستان تحریکِ انصاف عمران خان سےمجلس وحدت المسلین کے وفد کی زمان پارک میں ملاقات پاکستان تحریکِ انصاف کا بھرپور ساتھ دینے کا عزم اور گلگت بلتستان میں وزیرِاعلیٰ کے انتخاب کیلئے پاکستان تحریکِ انصاف کی حمایت کا اعلان کیا۔
[A delegation of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan at Zaman Park. It vowed to fully support the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and announced its support for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the election of the chief minister in Gilgit-Baltistan.]”
The caption of the Instagram post by @ptiofficial reads as follows:
“علامہ راجہ ناصر عباس کی سربراہی میں مجلس وحدت المسلین کے وفد کی زمان پارک آمد اور چئیرمین تحریک انصاف عمران خان سے ملاقات ملک پر مسلط فسطائی ٹولے کے خلاف مشترکہ جدوجہد جاری رکھنے کے عزم کا اعادہ مجلس وحدت المسلین کا وزیراعلیٰ گلگت بلتستان کے انتخاب میں تحریک انصاف کے امیدوار کو ووٹ دینے کا اعلان
[A delegation of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen, headed by Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, arrived at Zaman Park and met with [Pakistan] Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan. [They] reiterated the commitment to continue the joint struggle against the fascist group imposed on the country. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen announced to vote for [the Pakistan] Tehreek-e-Insaf’s candidate in the election of the chief minister in Gilgit-Baltistan.]”
A Shiite Muslim, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafari is a senator and the chairperson of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWMP). Following the aforementioned meeting, he posted (archive) an update on 7 July 2023 on X (formerly Twitter), writing:
“چئیرمین پاکستان تحریک انصاف عمران خان سے زمان پارک لاہور میں ان کی رہائش گاہ پر ملاقات،گذشتہ عید کی مبارکباد دی،ملاقات میں گلگت بلتستان میں عوام کے مینڈیٹ پر مارے جانے والے شب خون کی مذمت کی،گلگت بلتستان میں حکومت سازی کے لئے مجلس وحدت مسلمین پی ٹی آئی کی قیادت کے فیصلے کا ساتھ دے گی، یہ بات یاد رہے کہ ،،ظلم پھر ظلم ہے بڑھتا ہے تو مٹ جاتا ہے،،
[Met Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan at his residence in Zaman Park, Lahore, and extended the felicitations to him on the last Eid. In the meeting, I condemned the attack on the people’s mandate in Gilgit-Baltistan. Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen will support the decision of the PTI leadership to form the government in Gilgit-Baltistan. It should be remembered: oppression is oppression no matter what, if it escalates, it ends.]”
Separately, the picture in the claim has also been used on the MWMP’s website here and here. It has been included in news reports pertaining to Jafari and the PTI here, here, here, as well as in the thumbnail of this YouTube report.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the false claim on multiple social media platforms.
It was shared here on Facebook and here and here on X. It also appeared on TikTok here and here.
The picture was also posted here and here on Instagram, here and here on YouTube, and here on Threads.
Conclusion: The image does not show Imran Khan with Raisi. It was originally posted in July 2023 and actually shows Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafari, a senator and the chairperson of the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWMP) party.
Background image in cover photo: sina drakhshani
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