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Why Islamic Republic Of Iran Blew Up The C-130 In Mid
Air In 1981
The airplane crash conspiracy is a conspiracy of silence. It is
a conspiracy of unasked questions and abandoned investigative leads.
The most important perpetrator of this conspiracy is the mainstream
media. In today ' s Iran , the government media have control over
what most people think is "true." If media claims something is
so, almost everybody believes it. Many recent crashes have been
deemed accidents by the authorities and reported as such by the
media before any investigation was ever begun. More than the circumstances
and evidence surrounding any particular crash, it is this pattern
of pre-emptive reporting which should arouse the public ' s suspicions.
For the purposes of a cover-up, management of public opinion is
even more important than control of the evidence, especially when
the most important evidence is circumstantial and immediately obvious
to anybody who cares to think about it: the timing of the crash
and the identity of the victim(s). In cases when a death in a crash
has a direct effect on the balance of political power in the government,
here is a question which must always be asked, and almost never
is: "Is it possible that this particular airplane crash was actually
an act of sabotage, a political assassination?
On Wednesday September 30 1981 a C-130 plane crash killed four
top brass Iranian military leaders. The aircraft was blown up in
midair by a bomb placed in
a coffin of a dead Iran-Iraq war solider. The reason for the assassinations
of the Iranian top Generals was their close relationship with the
recently ousted first
Iranian president Abol-Hassan Banisadr who had been fired by Ruhollah
Khomeini the supreme leader of the 1979 Iran's Islamic revolution.
This was a preemptive
strike against a possible Coup d ' ' etat attempt by the military
fractions loyal to Banisadr.
Shortly after the Iran-Iraq war eruption President Abolhasan Bani
Sadr attempted to gain control of the armed forces but failed for
several reasons. Above all, Khomeini would not permit the Supreme
Defense Council (SDC) to be dominated by any faction, and he was
not prepared to make an exception for Bani Sadr. Prime Minister
Mohammad Ali Rajai, Bazargan ' s successor, and his Islamic Republican
Party (IRP) allies, concerned with the Revolution as much as the
war, were adamant in their opposition to Bani Sadr ' s unilateral
decisions. Bani Sadr was also weakened by his frequent interference
in purely military affairs (in which his poor judgment in military
matters became evident) as well as by competition with clergy members.
Despite the rift between Bani Sadr and the IRP, the SDC appointed
him supreme commander over all regular and paramilitary units.
Bani Sadr ' s ouster from the presidency and Chamran ' s death
(Defense minister) at the front galvanized the top generals to
push for implementation of the military reorganization proposals.
Colonel Namju was the new defense minister, and reorganization
of the command system received his full support. By September 1981,
SDC approval was ensured and coordination with the Pasdaran initiated.
Deputy Commander in Chief of the Pasdaran Kolahduz supervised the
first operational integration of the regular military with the
Pasdaran. Even the air force relented, and Brigadier General Javad
Fakuri authorized additional close air support for ground forces.
On September 24, 1981, a new command and control system was finalized
at a Tehran meeting hosted by Pasdaran commander in chief Mohsen
Rezai, who agreed to test the new proposals. An operation was launched
to liberate Abadan and force the Iraqis to the west bank of the
Karun River . Within four days, Iran ' s coordinated attack was
successful, and the Iraqis retreated. For the first time since
the outbreak of hostilities, a full-scale integration at the staff
level produced positive results.
On September 29, 1981, several high-ranking military leaders,
including Colonel Namju and Kolahduz, were killed in an airplane
crash. Colonel Zahirnezhad, promoted to brigadier general, took
over as chief of the Joint Staff of the armed forces, and Colonel
Seyyed-Shirazi took Zahirnezhad ' s post as commander of armed
forces. These appointments ensured the full implementation of the
new command system.
The true cause of the crash was never revealed but some of the
crew survivors revealed that a coffin aboard the aircraft exploded
causing the fuselage to break in half plunging the plane to the
ground.
In February of 2003, Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76 transporter
plane crashed killing 284 members of Iran ' s Revolutionary Guard
and 18 crew members. The crash occurred under suspicious circumstances
and as usual the cause was not revealed by the Iranian government!
United Press International
September 30, 1981, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: International
LENGTH: 455 words
HEADLINE: Four top Iranian generals killed in plane crash
BYLINE: By SAJID RIZVI
DATELINE: ANKARA, Turkey
BODY:
Iran ' s defense minister and three other top military commanders died in an
air crash near Tehran, the state-run radio reported Wednesday, leaving the
country ' s armed forces virtually leaderless.
Government sources contacted by telephone in Tehran said the American-built
C-130 Hercules transport plane crashed Tuesday at a firing range at Kahrizak,
south of Tehran , as it was bringing the military brass back from the Iraqi
war front.
Tehran radio said Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Seyed Musa Namju; Gen. Valiollah
Fallahi, acting chief of staff of the joint command; Gen. Kolah Douz, acting
commander of the revolutionary guards; and Gen. Javad Fakuri, former defense
minister and air force commander, were among ' ' a number of passengers ' '
killed in the crash.
The radio, monitored in Ankara , Turkey , said their funerals would take place
Thursday.
The government sources said an undetermined number of Iranian wounded from
the war with Iraq were aboard the plane, which was flying the generals to Tehran
from the frontline city of Ahvaz in southwestern Khuzistan province, the sources
said.
Except for one source who said the aircraft developed a ' ' technical fault,
' ' there was no official word on what caused the crash.
An official at the Tehran office of the chief of staff, contacted by telephone,
said, ' ' Investigations into the air crash are still continuing, but at the
moment we are not suspecting anyone. ' '
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeimi scheduled a top-level meeting with the Iran ' s
clergy to discuss the tragedy, the government sources said.
Opposition sources said the military leaders were all known to be loyal Khomeini
men who had served the Islamic leader since the 1979 revolution.
Gen. Fallahi became the armed forces chief of staff after Khomeini dismissed
Abolhassan Bani-Sadr from the military command shortly before he also fired
him from the presidency June 22.
Javad Fakuri, described by government circles as an adept strategist, had served
Khomeini earlier as air force commander and defense minister.
Khomeini, in a message broadcast by Tehran radio, voiced ' ' great sorrow and
grief ' ' at the deaths, which came a day after his clerical aide in Khorassan
province, Hojjatoleslam Hashemi-nejad, became the 107th victim of a wave of
assassinations that began after the fall of Bani-Sadr.
In retaliation for the assassinations, the Islamic regime has executed 1,369
dissidents so far -- 156 of them after leftist Mojahideen Khalq guerrillas
openly battled revolutionary guards in central Tehran Sunday.
Iranians go the the polls Friday to elect a successor to President Mohammed
Ali Rajai, who was killed Aug. 13 in a bomb blast that also took the life of
Prime Minister Javad Banohar.
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