US State Department holds Iranian government responsible for Raisi helicopter crash

The Iranian government is responsible for the decision to fly the 45-year-old helicopter in bad weather conditions, the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said, answering the question that restrictions on the supply of spare parts for aircraft to Tehran could have caused the plane crash in which Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian died, Report informs.

He noted that the United States intends to fully maintain sanctions against Iran, including against aircraft.

“We are absolutely not going to apologize for the sanctions. The Iranian government has used its aircraft to transport equipment to support terrorism. In this regard, we will continue to fully implement the sanctions regime, including sanctions against aircraft used by the Iranian government,” Miller said.

A US foreign policy official said that despite the expression of official condolences to Iran over the disaster, as well as the US participation in a minute of silence at the UN Security Council, Washington “has not fundamentally changed and will not change its approach to Iran” and its government.