Iran airliner crashes, 168 dead; Atomic chief Aghazadeh resigns; Rafsanjani: Iran in Crisis; Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahani: Regional approaches essential to solve regional problems
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    • An Iranian passenger plane crashed on July 15 in northwestern Iran, about 20 kms from the city of Qazvin, 15 minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport. All the 15 crew members and 153 passengers lost their lives in the accident. The Russian-made Tupolev Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 was en route to Yerevan, the Armenian capital1.

    Gholam Reza Aghazadeh resigned as head of Iran’s atomic energy agency. No reason was however given for the decision. It was reported that Mr. Aghazadeh was considered close to opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has till now not recognized the election results. His resignation came ahead of changes expected to be made in Ahmadinejad’s next government2.

    Former president and senior cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani stated that the country was in a crisis after the disputed June 12 election results, even as thousands of protesters demonstrated on the occasion of the Friday prayers. Reports pointed out that no other senior figure has described the post-election scenario in such terms. Security forces used tear gas and force to disperse supporters of defeated candidate Mousavi. Rafsanjani’s remarks meanwhile elicited criticism from some other senior clerics who accused him of backing the “law-breakers” and of creating rifts in the Islamic Republic3.

    In other developments, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Ahani, after a meeting with Indian analysts in Tehran described the countries as two emerging powers which enjoy age-old relations. He added that regional approaches were essential to solve problems facing the region and that earlier unilateral approaches have failed. The Iranian official also urged New Delhi and Tehran to work towards creating regional security structures to prevent outside powers from interfering in the region4.

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