Former Iranian official partly blames US sanctions for the helicopter crash that killed its president

• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran on Sunday.
• The crash involved a US-manufactured Bell 212 helicopter, which stopped being made in 1998.
• Iran's former foreign minister said US aircraft sanctions against Iran could be to blame.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash on Sunday — and the country's former foreign minister believes US sanctions were partly to blame.