| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Update on IRGC Plane Crash |
| 2006-01-10 |
| A Falcon airplane carrying military officials of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces, including IRGC Ground Forces Commander Ahmad Kazemi, crashed Monday morning, killing all 11 people on board. The plane, which was heading from Tehran to Urumiyeh in northwest Iran, crashed at 9:30 a.m. local time in a village near the city, 10 kilometers from the Urumiyeh airport. The Armed Forces headquarters issued a statement citing the failure of the plane’s two engines as the cause of the crash. IRGC Public Relations Office Deputy Director Yadollah Rabii told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) that the military officials were accompanying Major General Kazemi in a periodic visit to the region. He noted that the pilot had initially reported a technical failure of the plane’s wheels and then in its two engines, after which he failed to make a safe landing due to bad weather conditions. Following is the list of the names of the eleven military personnel killed in the crash as announced by Rabii: (1) Major General Ahmad Kazemi, commander of IRGC Ground Forces; (2) Brigadier General Saeed Mohtadi Jafari, commander of Rasulollah Division 27 of the IRGC; (3) Brigadier General Saeed Soleimani, deputy commander for operational affairs of the IRGC Ground Forces; (4) Brigadier General Nabiollah Shahmoradi, deputy commander for intelligence affairs of the IRGC Ground Forces; (5) Brigadier General Abbas Karbandi-Mojarad, commander of the Qadr Air Base of the IRGC Air Force (the plane's pilot); (6) Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Yazdani, commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Artillery Unit; (7) Brigadier General Safdar Reshadi, deputy commander for planning of the IRGC Ground Forces; (8) Brigadier General Ahmad Elhaminejad, commandant of the IRGC Air Force Academy (the plane’s copilot); (9) Brigadier General Hamid Azinpur, the commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Command Office; (10) Colonel Morteza Basiri, flight engineer; (11) Mohsen Asadi, bodyguard of the IRGC Ground Forces commander. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #16 I have mixed emotions about this - joy and happiness. I'm ululating ........ |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2006-01-10 23:28 |
| #15 Zen, unfortunately, I hope you are correct (for the minimal int'l damage) - they really need to settle this internally for it to stick, my hopes are for that |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-01-10 22:16 |
| #14 Great post, Pappy. Smells like purge to me. I'd wager that the mullahs are shopping around for military commanders who don't fuss about turning their guns on the citizenry. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-01-10 21:34 |
| #13 And the Falcon is made in ........Phrance? |
| Posted by: Brett 2006-01-10 20:10 |
| #12 One has to wonder if this wasn't another purge of IRGC leadership in retaliation for their unwillingness to take up arms against demonstrating Iranian citizens. There does seem to be a conflict between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei for influence in the IRGC and its 'volunteer' offshoot. For example: Other executive-branch officials are appointed without parliamentary confirmation. Some of these appointments appear to be straightforward payoffs for support during the presidential race, but they also shed some light on the connection of the Ahmadinejad administration with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and its affiliated Basij Resistance Force. For example, Ahmadinejad appointed a "Hojatoleslam [first name not given] Moslehi" as his adviser for theological and cleric affairs on 15 August, IRNA reported. This is probably Hojatoleslam Heidar Moslehi, the supreme leader's representative to the Basij Resistance Force, and the appointment is possibly his payoff for the Basij's decisive role in Ahmadinejad's victory. Ahmadinejad also appointed Gholam Hussein Elham as his chief of staff on 15 August..., ILNA reported. Elham is a member of the Guardians Council, and he also is its spokesman. The council is tasked with supervising elections, and it also faced accusations from unsuccessful candidates in the June presidential election. So this appointment could be a payoff, too. Yet Elham also has a connection with the Basij and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) -- he reportedly performed special missions as a Basiji during the last two years of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, and from 1980-84 he was a prosecutor with the IRGC's courts... Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Ali-Reza Zahedi as the new commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) air force on 25 August, IRNA reported. He succeeds Brigadier General Ahmad Kazemi. Five days earlier, Kazemi was selected to head the IRGC's ground forces, IRNA reported. Kazemi succeeds Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari-Najafabadi. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-01-10 20:04 |
| #11 Nice way to disguise a possible purge. Stalin would be jealous. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2006-01-10 19:23 |
| #10 Killing off potential coup plotters? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-01-10 18:58 |
| #9 Landing gear AND two engines - that ain't water, Bro. That's belt and suspenders.... |
| Posted by: Glith Angaing2355 2006-01-10 16:57 |
| #8 Iranian Air Force SPACE-A travel really blows! (Just something to remember wen your trying to catch that next ME hop). |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-10 16:17 |
| #7 The other question is... if it was an assassination, then by whom and to what end? It's natural to think that the loss of these men might weaken their military, but what if these men were considered a threat to Abadude? While they might not be potential US allies, they could be Populists that were worried on the course of action their leader had set their country on. |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-01-10 16:06 |
| #6 9 Generals and a Colonel. That's not a bad days work. That will make it all the much easier for us. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-01-10 15:40 |
| #5 i love the smell of dead IRGC commanders in the morning. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-01-10 15:18 |
| #4 TWIN engine failure? Sounds like water in the fuel tanks to me. The undercarriage going south was pure gravy. One has to wonder if this wasn't another purge of IRGC leadership in retaliation for their unwillingness to take up arms against demonstrating Iranian citizens. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-01-10 14:35 |
| #3 (10) Colonel Morteza Basiri, flight engineer; What. x2 Maybe my misunderstanding of leadership tiers is off... but those are some high-up dudes. I know it's easy to see black helicopters and mossad in just about any story... but this is looking like a real deal assassination. |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-01-10 14:34 |
| #2 Brigadier General Abbas Karbandi-Mojarad, commander of the Qadr Air Base of the IRGC Air Force (the plane's pilot); What. |
| Posted by: Anon4021 2006-01-10 14:31 |
| #1 Wonner if they could have shoved on another General officer or two? So much for contingency plans "B" through "K" of the IRGC CONOP. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-10 13:23 |