Iran rules out sabotage in military plane crash

Iran on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of sabotage in the crash of a military Antonov-74 plane at Tehran's airport on the previous day, the local Fars News Agency reported.

Investigations have found no sign of conspiracy or sabotage in the ill-fated plane, Major General Seyed Yahya Rahim Safavi, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) , was quoted as saying at the funeral of the victims.

"It has so far been proved that the technical defect in the plane should be claimed responsible for the crash of the Antonov- 74, but a detailed report on the exact causes and defects of the plane requires more time," he said.

The Antonov-74 plane, belonging to the IRGC, crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran's Mehrabad Airport Monday morning, killing 30 passengers and all 6 crew members.

The only two survivors suffered severe injuries and are now being treated in hospital.

The aircraft was heading toward Shiraz in the south of Iran when a technical defect occurred in its engine and crashed at the end of Mehrabad airport's runway after taking off.

The passengers on board the aircraft were said to be mainly the family members of the Revolutionary Guards, said Fars.

In recent years, Iran has witnessed a high rate of air crashes due to lack of spare parts and inadequate maintenance of aircraft.

An Iranian C-130 aircraft, bound for the Gulf seaport city of Bandar Abbas, crashed on Dec. 6, 2005, in a residential area and hit a 10-story apartment block, killing 108 people.

On Jan. 9, a small Falcon jet of the IRGC crashed in Iran's northwestern border province of West Azarbaijan.

Source: Xinhua