Raisi's death: Russia blames US

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has blamed US sanctions for the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash. News from Reuters, AFP.

Attending a trade conference in Kazakhstan on Tuesday (May 21), he said Iran's aviation security has worsened due to US sanctions.

Earlier, a helicopter carrying 9 high-ranking officials, including President Ibrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Amir Abdullahian, crashed in a mountainous region in northwestern Iran last Sunday. All occupants of the Raisih helicopter were killed in the accident.

Pictures published by Iran's state-run media show that the crashed helicopter is a US-made Bell 212 model. Rescue teams found the wreckage of the helicopter in a mountainous and snow-covered area of ​​East Azerbaijan province on Monday morning. However, the Iranian government has not officially announced the cause of the helicopter crash.

British media BBC says, it is not clear how old the helicopter was. However, this model was developed for the Canadian military in the 1960s. A decade of US and international sanctions against Tehran began after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The United States has not sold any military weapons to Iran since that time.

Iran was one of the major buyers of Bell helicopters during the Shah's regime before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, the exact source of the crashed plane was not clear. Decades of US embargo made it difficult for Iran to buy parts or repair Bell 212 helicopters.

“The Americans deny it,” Lavrov said of the helicopter crash carrying Raisi. But the truth is that the United States has imposed sanctions on various countries of the world. As a result, they don't get American-made spare parts for repairs, including aviation.”

He said, “We are talking about indiscriminate harm to ordinary citizens; Those who use these vehicles. When spare parts are not provided, it directly violates the safety level.''

According to Flight Global's 2024 World Air Forces Directory, Iran's naval and air force fleets have a total of 10 Bell 212 model helicopters. However, it is not clear how many of these helicopters the Iranian government is operating. This US made helicopter can be used for any purpose. In addition to transporting people and goods, weapons can also be carried and used during wartime.

The last Bell 212 model helicopter crashed in Iran was in April 2018. At that time, the helicopter crashed on the way to take a patient suffering from heart attack to the hospital.

Bangladesh /FM