BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21. It's the Iranian government that is responsible for the decision to fly a 45-year-old helicopter in what was described as poor weather conditions, not any other actor, the US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing, TurkicWorld reports.
He was commenting on the accusations made by former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif agains the US amid the crash of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.
"So, first of all, we are not going to apologize for our sanctions regime at all. The Iranian government has used its aircraft to transport equipment to support terrorism, so we will continue to fully enforce our sanctions regime, including our sanctions regime on aircraft for use by the Iranian government. Ultimately, it's the Iranian government that is responsible for the decision to fly a 45-year-old helicopter in what was described as poor weather conditions, not any other actor," he said.
On May 19, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tabriz Province Imam Ayatollah Al-Hashim, and East Azerbaijan Province Governor-General Malek Rahmati crashed while flying from Khudafarin to Tabriz.
After the crash, the helicopter crew established communication twice before losing it.
The Iranian President and the entire accompanying delegation were confirmed dead.
Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier that the US is one of the main culprits behind the crash of the helicopter.
According to him, despite the International Court of Justice ruling, the US has imposed sanctions on selling aircraft and air transport spare parts to Iran.
"The US is preventing the Iranian people from using the good capabilities of air transportation. This will be recorded in the list of US crimes against Iran," he stressed.
The Iranian ex-minister mentioned that the helicopter crash in Iran the previous day was a hard and bitter event.
"Iran has faced several tough tribulations during the last 45 years. Beyond this predicament, the Iranian people will emerge united and march forward," he added.
