I also worked with some Iranian students. Fairly bright people, but I was pretty much always aware that they were on student loans and a return home would guarantee the loans would not be repaid.
Though one of them did a tour of duty in the Iranian Army during the Iran/Iraq war, spent X months on the Basra front and rotated out on leave. He didn’t return, left the country, and it was possible he could not go home. It was never clear to me.
Good technical minds from those two kids. Understood The System of the university for foreign students. [Note, university loves them. Non resident tuition much higher]
Overall, nah, if these guys were technically incompetent there would be no reason to sanction them for anything. We’re just generating another multi-generational enemy. They have the #2 largest natgas reserves in the world, behind Russia. Not a great enemy to make.
Way too much derisive chuckling about how old the helicopter might have been.
We are flying B-52s on active duty that are about 70 years old. Oh, and btw, the San Diego police fly that specific model of helicopter, as does the Canadian Coast Guard.
Bad weather doesn’t care much about how old your aircraft is.