ARMS CARGO FOR HEZBOLLAH WERE PLANNED TO BE DELIVERED VIA YEREVAN
Today.Az
Aug 3 2009
Azerbaijan
An explosion in luggage space of Tu-154 aircraft was the major reason
for crash near Tehran, Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera"
reported quoting sources in the Middle East as saying. Arms cargo
intended for Hezbollah was on board of the aircraft.
On July 15, TU-154 plane owned by Caspian Airlines airline
were operating Tehran-Yerevan flight with 168 passengers on
board. 16 minutes after the takeoff, the crew reported unforeseen
problems. During the emergency landing the aircraft crashed to the
ground from a height of 8,000 meters. Iranian authorities have reported
that the cause of the crash was a fire in one of the engines.
The newspaper said Iranian authorities are trying to conceal true
cause of the crash. The newspaper argues that there was no simple
coincidence that just a few minutes later large security forces
arrived at the scene. The authorities were aware of the cargo on
board of the aircraft.
Witnesses who watched the collapse of the liner also confirmed an
explosion on the board. They say that they heard a strong explosion
before the plane crashed to the ground.
The Italian newspaper also said cargo of ammunition and detonators
intended for Hezbollah were on board of the plane. Sender of goods
was Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Newspaper’s sources argued that the ammunition was to be delivered
to southern Lebanon by land transport.
The load was accompanied by several members of the Revolution Corps
who died in a plane crash, the newspaper said.