Wrong US sanctions? -Editing

Iran's air fleet, a country subject to a US embargo for forty-five years, is one of the most deteriorated in the world. The plane in which President Ibrahim Raissi was traveling was almost 30 years old when it crashed in a mountainous area on May 19.

Who killed Ebrahim Raisi, the former Iranian president who died in a helicopter crash on May 19? For former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the culprit is clear: ongoing US sanctions against his country that cost the life of the ultra-conservative cleric, who has been in power since 2021. Successive Western embargoes have been imposed since the country's founding. The Islamic Republic of 1979, according to him, is responsible for the deterioration of the Iranian air fleet.

A hypothesis supported by his Russian counterpart and ally, Sergei Lavrov, that the countries subject to US sanctions “Do not obtain spare parts for American equipment, including aviation.”. “The Iranian government is responsible for the decision to fly a 45-year-old helicopter.” Washington responds. An investigation has been opened to try to clarify the circumstances of this incident that occurred in “Difficult weather conditions” According to Tehran.

Aging fleet

The helicopter that carried Ibrahim Raisi was a Bell 212, an American-made model that was developed for the first time.