Iran: Sanctions on air industry a crime against humanity

TEHRAN, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran's prosecutor general Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi said on Sunday that sanctions on the country's air industry is a crime against humanity, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the world bodies have to make those who impose sanctions on air industry understand that it accounts for a crime against humanity, Dorri-Najafabadi told IRNA.

A Russian-made Tupolov passenger plane, belonging to the Iranian Caspian Airlines, crashed on Wednesday morning near the country's northwestern city of Gazvin and all 168 people on board were killed.

The cause of the disaster is not immediately clear, but the officials have attributed the incident to the technical problems of the airliner.

In the past, Iran's airlines have suffered a number of flight disasters, both civil and military use.

Experts believe that the U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran, which prevented its allies from selling aircraft or aircraft parts to the country," have undermined safety standards within Iran's civil and military aviation fleet and is increasing the likelihood of more major air disasters."