People hold up posters of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a mourning ceremony at Vali-e-Asr square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The U.S. extended official condolences for the death of Iran’s president and foreign minister over the weekend and also participated in a moment of silence for Raisi at the United Nations Security Council.
Defending the move Monday, Miller said, "It is a step that the United States takes, recognizing that people have families, and in no way – in no way at all undermining our fundamental view of the Iranian regime and its crimes against its own people and our support for the Iranian people."
He described Raisi as "a brutal participant in the repression of the Iranian people for nearly four decades" who was "involved in numerous horrific human rights abuses, including playing a key role in the extrajudicial killing of thousands of political prisoners in 1988."
"Some of the worst human rights abuses occurred during his tenure as president, especially the human rights abuses against the women and girls of Iran," Miller said. "That said, we regret any loss of life. We don’t want to see anyone die in a helicopter crash. But that doesn’t change the reality of his record both as a judge and as the president of Iran and the fact that he has blood on his hands."
A rescue team members work at the scene of a crash of a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in northwestern Iran on Monday, (Azin Haghighi, Moj News Agency via AP)
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin addressed concern that Tehran would blame the U.S. or Israel for the crash.
"The United States had no part to play in that crash," Austin said at a separate press conference. "That's a fact, plain and simple."
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"I won't speculate as to what they will blame," he added. "They have to conduct an investigation to see what the cause of the crash was. It could be a number of things – mechanical failure, pilot error, you name it."
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/state-dept-denies-irans-rare-request-us-assistance-deadly-helicopter-crash-logistical-reasons