Tag: Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA)

Ukrainian Boeing Passenger Plane Crashes Near Tehran, All Aboard Killed

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq hosting US forces, but unrelated to the strike.


A Ukraine International Airlines flight crashed on Wednesday shortly after take-off from Imam Khomeini airport, Tehran’s main international airport, killing all those on board, Iran’s state television said.

Iranian news agency Fars reported that the Boeing 737-800 was carrying at least 170 passengers and crew members. Fars reported that the crash was suspected to have been caused by technical issues, as did Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

Iran’s civil aviation spokesperson Reza Jafarzadeh said that an investigation team was present at the site of the crash close to the airport in the southwestern peripheries of Tehran, the Associated Press reported.

“After taking off from Imam Khomeini international airport it crashed between Parand and Shahriar,” Jafarzadeh said. “An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced.”

According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, flight data from Imam Khomeini International Airport showed that a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterwards.

Also read: Iran Missile Attacks Target US Forces in Iraq; Trump Says ‘All Is Well!’

The Boeing plane had left Tehran bound for Kyiv, Iran’s ISNA news agency said, adding that 10 ambulances were sent to the crash site.

The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tragedy amid high tensions

Emergency workers work near the wreckage of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, a Boeing 737-800 plane that crashed after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on January 8, 2020, in this still image taken from Iran Press footage. Iran Press/Handout via Reuters

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq hosting US forces in retaliation for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani.

The Boeing 737-800 has been involved in a number of fatal accidents over the years. In March 2016, a Flydubai 737-800 from Dubai crashed while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia. Sixty-two people aboard lost their lives.

The Boeing 737-800 is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for almost 10 months following two crashes, one in Ethiopia and the other in Indonesia.

FlightRadar24 said the Ukrainian flight on Wednesday was not operated by a Boeing 737 Max.

The Boeing Company, based in Chicago, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran has suffered a series of fatal air accidents in recent years. Decades of international sanctions imposed on the country have taken a toll on its commercial passenger aircraft fleet.

The article was originally published on DW. You can read it here.

Iran’s President Rejects Resignation of Moderate Ally Javad Zarif

Zarif’s departure would have deprived Iran of its most skilled diplomat who was able to strike a deal with Western powers during years of intense negotiations.

Dubai/London: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani rejected the resignation of foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday, standing by a moderate ally long targeted by hardliners in factional struggles over a 2015 nuclear deal with the West.

Zarif – a US-educated veteran diplomat who helped craft the pact that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief – announced his resignation on Instagram on Monday.

“As the Supreme Leader has described you as a ‘trustworthy, brave and religious’ person in the forefront of resistance against widespread US pressures, I consider accepting your resignation against national interests and reject it,” Rouhani said in a letter published on state news agency IRNA.

Zarif’s departure would have deprived Iran of its most skilled diplomat, a patient negotiator who was able to strike a deal with Western powers during years of intense negotiations.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Credit: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo

His knowledge of the West gained during years of studying in the US and then representing Iran at the United Nations enabled him to build a rapport with American officials despite decades of animosity between Washington and Tehran.

After US President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal, Zarif’s conservative opponents accused him of selling out his country.

The widespread publicity around Zarif’s resignation announcement, and then strong support from senior officials which followed may give him political ammunition against hardliners as an internal power struggle continues.

Zarif gave no specific reasons for his resignation.

Also read: After Javad Zarif’s Exit, Where Does Iran Stand?

Schism

But his move thrust the schism between Iran’s hardliners and moderates into the open, effectively challenging Khamenei to pick a side.

The schism between hardliners and moderates over the nuclear deal shows the tension in Iran between the two factions, and between the elected government which runs the country on a day-to-day basis and a clerical establishment with ultimate power.

In another show of confidence, senior Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani said Zarif – was the main person in charge of Iranian foreign policy and he was supported by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

On Wednesday, Zarif thanked Iranians for their support. “As a modest servant I have never had any concern but elevating the foreign policy and the status of the foreign ministry,” he added in an Instagram post.

After Rouhani’s announcement, Zarif signed two agreements in Tehran with Armenia, television footage showed, continuing his duties as Iran’s top diplomat.

An ally of Zarif told Reuters his resignation was motivated by criticism of the nuclear accord, under increasingly intense fire in Iran since the US abandoned it last year.

Zarif has had to explain why Iran has continued to abide by its restrictions while reaping virtually none of the foreseen economic benefits.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, another moderate, on Wednesday denied reports by a hardline lawmaker that he had also resigned, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.

(Reuters)