US kills top Iranian general in Baghdad

Post Reply New Topic

(TEHRAN, Iran) — A Ukrainian airplane carrying at least 170 people crashed Wednesday near an airport in the capital, Tehran, state TV reported. There was no immediate word on casualties.

The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, the report said. The crash is suspected to have been caused by mechanical issues, it added, without elaborating.

An investigation team was at the site of the crash in southwestern outskirts of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said.

“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.”

State TV earlier said there were 180 passengers and crew aboard. The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled.

Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The Boeing 737-800 is a very common single-aisle, twin-engine jetliner used for short to medium-range flights. Thousands of the planes are used by airlines around the world.Introduced in the late 1990s, it is an older model than the Boeing 737 MAX, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months following two deadly crashes.

A number of 737-800 aircraft have been involved in deadly 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, killing 62 onboard. Another 737-800 flight from Dubai, operated by Air India Express, crashed in May 2010 while trying to land in Mangalore, India, killing more than 150 onboard.

It's looking like Iran targeted the Iraqi areas of the Al-Asad Airbase, and did not hit the Western areas--to include US, Norwegian, and Australian soldiers. So it looks like Iran did not want to kill any American troops.

I'm beginning to think the expert I talked to, who said this would all blow over, was right.

Looking at the situation now, Iran is claiming 80 American soldiers were killed and 200 were wounded. The Iraqi military is now saying that none of its personnel were killed or wounded in the attacks. But the US still has not reported whether there were any casualties among its forces and is still assessing the situation.

EDIT: In case anyone asks, this is the source on Iraq reporting no casualties among its forces:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq ... SKBN1Z70P7

But as early reports emerged of no American casualties and limited damage, U.S. officials quickly concluded the attacks were more of a face-saving measure for Tehran than an escalation of hostilities. “The Iranians have left President Trump with an obvious off-ramp,” to mounting hostilities, a senior U.S. official told TIME Tuesday night.

“Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced on Twitter. “We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”

As the Pentagon assessed the damage, U.S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, told TIME that no Americans were killed in the assault on Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province and another military installation in Erbil, located in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region.