YEREVAN DENIES REPORTS THERE WERE WEAPONS ABOARD CRASHED AIRLINER

Interfax
Aug 4 2009
Russia

Armenia’s Main Civil Aviation Department has denied media reports
claiming there were weapons aboard the Tupolev Tu-154 airliner on a
flight from Tehran to Yerevan, which crashed on July 15.

"These reports are untrue and unfounded. Passenger liners cannot
carry weapons," it told the press.

Earlier reports claimed that the crash had been caused by a blast
in the baggage compartment and that the plane was carrying weapons
for Hezbollah.

Italy’s Corriere Della Sera wrote that there were weapons and a large
number of detonators in the plane’s cargo compartment. The weapons
were to be moved to Syria through Armenia and Turkey, and then to
Lebanon, the newspaper claimed.

The plane crashed 16 minutes after takeoff, killing 168 people. The
Iranian authorities have not announced any official theories regarding
the possible reasons behind the crash thus far.