Washington says that Iran asked for help after Raisi’s helicopter crash

Iran has asked for help after the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi, the State Department said Monday, after Washington offered condolences despite insisting the late had “blood on his hands”.

The State Department said Iran, severed diplomatic relations with the United States since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, had asked Washington for help after a helicopter carrying Raisi crashed in a mountainous region in northwestern Iran on Sunday.

“I won’t go into details, but the Iranian government has asked us for help,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, adding that the United States had been unable to do so “for logistical reasons”.

He noted that Iran’s request for help came shortly after the helicopter was lost and reports of the crash to be found.

On Monday, the United States offered its condolences, ruling out a broader impact on regional security.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, “The United States expresses its solemn condolences on the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and other members of their delegation in a helicopter accident in northwestern Iran”.

“At a time when Iran chooses a new president, we reiterate our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms,” he said.

The US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters that “I don’t see a broader impact on regional security after Raisi’s death”.

“We continue to monitor the situation, but we have no idea what caused the incident,” he said, stressing that the United States wasn’t involved in the accident and that US forces hadn’t changed their posture after the incident.

White House spokesman John Kirby said Monday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, “was a man with blood on his hands”.

He said Raisi bore “responsibility for egregious human rights violations” in Iran, despite Washington offering condolences to the Islamic Republic over his death.

Meanwhile, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif blamed Raisi’s helicopter crash on US sanctions that hamper the sale of aircraft parts.

Asked about Zarif’s comment, the State Department spokesman said, “At the end of the day, it’s the Iranian government that bears the responsibility for the decision to allow a 45-year-old helicopter to fly in bad weather, and no one else”.