Iranian crash kills military commander
ISN SECURITY WATCH (09/01/06) – An Iranian military passenger plane crashed on Monday morning in north-west Iran killing at least 13, including a senior military commander, according to police and news agency reports.
The plane, a Falcon jet belonging to the elite Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran), was attempting at make an emergency landing when it crashed near the village of Aidinlou, 12km from its intended destination, the provincial capital of West Azarbaijan, Oroumieh.
There were competing claims as to what caused the crash, with the official IRNA news organization reporting that the aircraft's landing gear had jammed, while the Mehr news agency said that the cause was engine failure.
A spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, General Masoud Jazayeri, said that the crash was caused by a combination of bad weather and engine failure.
Jazayeri confirmed that the commander of Pasdaran ground forces was among the fatalities. "Ahmad Kazemi, commander of the ground forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard, and another ten officers of the Guard were killed […] The authorities are investigating the incident," he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed his condolences in an official statement carried by IRNA: "The bitter incident of martyrdom of [the] commander of ground forces of [the] Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Brigadier General Ahmad Kazemi, [the] commander of Division 27 and several other devotees of Islam and the Islamic country caused deep grief and sorrow," he said.
According to IRNA, ten senior officers were killed in the crash including the commander of the 27th Division Saeed Mohtadi, Deputy Commander of Ground Forces for Operation Affairs Saeed Soleymani and the Official in Charge of Information for Ground Forces Hanif Montazer-Qaem.
IRNA reported that Brigadier General Ghasem Soleimani, the commander of the Jerusalem Forces anti-terror unit, was among the dead, though state radio said later that he was not on board.
In an interview with ISN Security Watch, Safa Haeri of the independent Iran Press Service expressed his surprise that the French-made Falcon aircraft was involved in the crash as, "the Falcon is known to be a good plane."
Asked about the importance of the Pasdaran in Iranian society, Haeri said "The elite force is more important than the regular army […] are much better equipped than the regular army and […] they play a very important role in keeping internal peace and security and in [ensuring] the security of the leaders".
"They are very important in politics as well," Haeri added. "For the first time almost 70 members of the parliament are former officers of the Revolutionary Guard and six or seven members of the cabinet." Another former Guard officer in a prominent political position is the Supreme Council of National Security head Hassan Rohani, who leads Iran's nuclear negotiating team, he said.
Kazemi was appointed the new commander of Pasdaran ground forces in August in a reshuffle instigated by the newly-elected president, having previously served as the head of the Guard's air force. In that position he was responsible for the ongoing development of the Shihab missile system. According to Haeri, Kazemi "was a very famous commander during the [Iran-Iraq] war".
Ahmadinejad is also a former commander in the Pasdaran, which was set up as a balance to the regular armed forces following the 1979 revolution, to defend the Islamic regime from "internal and external threats". Through its economic interests and military strength the Guard wields significant power in the Iranian political structure.
Iran has struggled in recent years to find spare parts for civilian and military aircraft due to a US trade embargo and has a recent aviation record marred by several major tragedies.
In December 115 people were killed when a C-130 military transport crashed into an apartment block in the capital Tehran after suffering engine problems. Haeri noted that following Mondays' crash, "The Revolutionary Guard were very quick to announce, and also to say what happened […] unlike the C-130 crash in which we still do not know what happened."
In 2003, a Russian-made Ilyushin-76 carrying Guard members crashed in southeastern Iran, killing 302 people. A year before a Tupolev Tu-154 crashed in a mountainous area in the south-east, killing all 119 on board.
(By Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv)
The plane, a Falcon jet belonging to the elite Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran), was attempting at make an emergency landing when it crashed near the village of Aidinlou, 12km from its intended destination, the provincial capital of West Azarbaijan, Oroumieh.
There were competing claims as to what caused the crash, with the official IRNA news organization reporting that the aircraft's landing gear had jammed, while the Mehr news agency said that the cause was engine failure.
A spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, General Masoud Jazayeri, said that the crash was caused by a combination of bad weather and engine failure.
Jazayeri confirmed that the commander of Pasdaran ground forces was among the fatalities. "Ahmad Kazemi, commander of the ground forces of the elite Revolutionary Guard, and another ten officers of the Guard were killed […] The authorities are investigating the incident," he said.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed his condolences in an official statement carried by IRNA: "The bitter incident of martyrdom of [the] commander of ground forces of [the] Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Brigadier General Ahmad Kazemi, [the] commander of Division 27 and several other devotees of Islam and the Islamic country caused deep grief and sorrow," he said.
According to IRNA, ten senior officers were killed in the crash including the commander of the 27th Division Saeed Mohtadi, Deputy Commander of Ground Forces for Operation Affairs Saeed Soleymani and the Official in Charge of Information for Ground Forces Hanif Montazer-Qaem.
IRNA reported that Brigadier General Ghasem Soleimani, the commander of the Jerusalem Forces anti-terror unit, was among the dead, though state radio said later that he was not on board.
In an interview with ISN Security Watch, Safa Haeri of the independent Iran Press Service expressed his surprise that the French-made Falcon aircraft was involved in the crash as, "the Falcon is known to be a good plane."
Asked about the importance of the Pasdaran in Iranian society, Haeri said "The elite force is more important than the regular army […] are much better equipped than the regular army and […] they play a very important role in keeping internal peace and security and in [ensuring] the security of the leaders".
"They are very important in politics as well," Haeri added. "For the first time almost 70 members of the parliament are former officers of the Revolutionary Guard and six or seven members of the cabinet." Another former Guard officer in a prominent political position is the Supreme Council of National Security head Hassan Rohani, who leads Iran's nuclear negotiating team, he said.
Kazemi was appointed the new commander of Pasdaran ground forces in August in a reshuffle instigated by the newly-elected president, having previously served as the head of the Guard's air force. In that position he was responsible for the ongoing development of the Shihab missile system. According to Haeri, Kazemi "was a very famous commander during the [Iran-Iraq] war".
Ahmadinejad is also a former commander in the Pasdaran, which was set up as a balance to the regular armed forces following the 1979 revolution, to defend the Islamic regime from "internal and external threats". Through its economic interests and military strength the Guard wields significant power in the Iranian political structure.
Iran has struggled in recent years to find spare parts for civilian and military aircraft due to a US trade embargo and has a recent aviation record marred by several major tragedies.
In December 115 people were killed when a C-130 military transport crashed into an apartment block in the capital Tehran after suffering engine problems. Haeri noted that following Mondays' crash, "The Revolutionary Guard were very quick to announce, and also to say what happened […] unlike the C-130 crash in which we still do not know what happened."
In 2003, a Russian-made Ilyushin-76 carrying Guard members crashed in southeastern Iran, killing 302 people. A year before a Tupolev Tu-154 crashed in a mountainous area in the south-east, killing all 119 on board.
(By Dominic Moran in Tel Aviv)
posted by Marko at 1/09/2006 12:44:00 PM
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