Sunday, August 2, 2009

Questions Surrounding Iran’s Airliner Crash

Italian daily Corriere Della Sera on Saturday reported that Iran’s Caspian Air’s Russian-made Tupolev jet that crashed near the city of Qazvin on 15 July, claiming the lives of 168 people, was carrying in its luggage compartment several metal cases with two kilograms of explosives and detonators.

The aircraft was flying to Armenia when it crashed. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosions in the plane before it crashed into the ground. The Armenian investigators had visited the crash site, but the newspaper did not say if they were among its sources. Iranian authorities have said that they recovered the plane’s three black boxes but have not yet offered an official explanation for the fatal crash.

At the time of the crash, there were reports that members of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards were on board the plane. Corriere Della Sera says that its sources claim that the IRGC officers were to monitor the delivery of explosives to Hezbollah via Armenia.

No comments: