US to blame for Iranian president’s death: Belarus
Iran’s inability to service its American-made helicopters due to US sanctions surely played a role in the fatal crash that killed the country’s leader, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has said.
MEHR: Iran’s inability to service its American-made helicopters due to US sanctions surely played a role in the fatal crash that killed the country’s leader, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were among those killed on Monday when their Bell helicopter crashed in the mountains on the way back from Azarbaijan.
“As a person, and not as a president, I will say that the vile, disgusting position of the United States led to this,” Lukashenko said on Friday at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk, RT reported.
“I mean, first of all, the sanctions. These scoundrels had no right to impose sanctions against ships, against planes, helicopters that transport people,” Lukashenko added. “They banned their companies from servicing [Raeisi’s helicopter]. Therefore, this is also their fault.”
Lukashenko also noted that the US has sanctioned his own presidential airplane.
Putin, who was visiting Minsk to discuss nuclear drills and other key issues, noted that the two other helicopters in the Iranian convoy were of Russian manufacture.
“Russian-made helicopters flew without any special difficulties in the same conditions, in the same corridor, in fact, without any problems,” Putin told reporters.
Lukashenko expressed hope that Iran will “figure out what happened there,” describing Raeisi as “a normal, kind person who conducted a frank, honest dialogue, was concerned about the development of his own state and protecting the interests of his own people.”
