Blaming Iranian political reformers and the West for yesterday’s horrific air crash in northwest Iran, this article by columnist Kian Mokhtari of Iran’s state-controlled Kayhan lashes out at former President Khatami for seeking to replace Iran’s passenger fleet with Western aircraft – and the West for not selling them to him. On the other hand, he also blames the bad reputation of Russian aircraft on Western propaganda.
Arguing that the West cares for protester lives but not those of air travelers, because its only real goal is to install a ‘puppet regime’, Mokhtari delivers the Iranian government line when he writes:
“The question for the West is: Why in Western eyes are Iranian lives lost during post-election riots on the streets of Tehran worth so much, while hundreds of thousands of Iranian air travelers are worth so little? To anyone familiar with the West’s decades-old plans to exploit Iranian resources with a convenient puppet regime, the answer is pretty obvious.”
Then, turning to Iran’s reform politicians by targeting former President Khatami, Mokhtari writes:
“Iranian governments must at least try to be astute. The West had no intention of selling aircraft to former President Khatami, so when the time came for replacing Iran’s air fleet, his government should have taken the opportunity to find them elsewhere.”
By Kian Mokhtari
July 16, 2009
Islamic Republic of Iran- Kayhan – Home Page (English)
A Caspian Airlines flight from Iran, a Tupolev Tu-154 M-3, caught fire shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport. Crashing 16 minutes into the flight, all 168 passengers and crew were lost.
This type of craft is the most advanced and reliable in the Tu-154 M-3 series, but almost since its conception, few aircraft have been plagued by as many problems.
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