Drone crashes in Iran, say reports

[sabra]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/August/middleeast_August807.xml§ion=middleeast&col=

Drone crashes in Iran, say reports
(AFP)

TEHERAN — An unmanned single-engined plane has crashed in a mountainous area of western Iran and the wreckage has been recovered by the Iranian armed forces, Iranian newspapers said yesterday.


It was not clear if the plane was Iranian or foreign, although the influential Kayhan newspaper pointed out that “usually these sort of planes are used for spying on other countries”.

The reports quoted Ali Asgar Ahmadi, deputy head of security in the interior ministry, as saying the plane went down on Thursday in the Alashtar mountains near the city of Khorramabad, the capital of Lorestan province, 350 kilometres southwest of Teheran.

The hardline Kayhan newspaper said that as soon as the plane crashed, police sealed off the area — just 150 kilometres from the border with Iraq — and “a group of experts from Kermanshahr airbase went to examine the fuselage”.

“It is under investigation,” a local official quoted as saying. No further details were given.

[iconoclastic cat]

1. Oh, great.

[daleo]

2. It seems likely it is a Bush war-party drone (some more from the article)

"Earlier this year the former intelligence minister Ali Yunessi confirmed the presence of “American spying instruments” in the skies over Iran and warned that they would be targeted by the military.

“Americans have been conducting spying activities in the Iranian sky for a long time,” he said in February.

US media reports earlier this year also said the United States has been flying drones over Iran since April 2004, seeking evidence to back up its claims that Iran is working on nuclear weapons and probing for weaknesses in Iran’s air defences.

The administration of US President George W. Bush has refused to rule out possible military action over Iran’s nuclear activities."

[NYC]

3. Probing for weaknesses in Iran's air defenses.

Just emphasizing, in case Iran is part of the broader middle east.

[niallmac]

4. Bad news but

even if the cyborg survived they never talk.

[Palladin]

5. Iranian reaction to drones

The US military has been flying these drones over Iran since the begining of the year. Scott Ritter has reported on it, in connection with his prognostications about an imminent American or American-backed Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. The US aim has been, among other things, to get the Iranians to turn on their air defense radars, so that the US can figure out where they are. The air defense radars have to be neutralized before any bombing attack proceeds. The Iranians have learned to play the game well; so far they have not broken fire discipline once and revealed their positions. They probably don't even waste any missiles on the drones any more. The Iranians' lack of response has really chewed up the US military's timetable for aggression.

[Old and In the Way]

7. Isn't there such a thing as violation of a country's airspace?

I wonder how the US population would feel if Iranian drones were buzzing our country? Unbelievable.

[Igel]

13. It was probably US.

But, to be honest, the article doesn't say that. It's explicitly agnostic on the issue.

And we know that Iran has drones, if only because they gave some to Hizbullah, who proudly trumpeted their existence in threatening Israel; and we can probably be confident that the Iranians (like the US) continue to develop them.

[loudsue]

20. Do you know this as a fact, Palladin?

I've wondered what has been holding back the military's "timetable".

:kick:

[henslee]

6. Wonder whose it was? Wonder how many drones are actually flying around

right now... I mean, what is a drone but a radio controlled airplane with a camera. Every country must have drone technology by now.

[wli]

8. the US has been violating Iranian airspace for a while n/t

[MnFats]

9. Ummm, U.S. spying on Iran has had some bad outcomes, right?

those who do not learn from history....oh, never mind.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. If it is ours then that would be a belligerent act of war on our part.

Has Congress authorized the Bush Cabal to commit acts of war against Iran?

[DS1]

11. WELCOME TO TERRORDRONE!

EMARGO ON!

/mad max

[Ian David]

12. Oh, no! Iran captuered Special Ops Cody!

[beetbox]

14. Unidentified Drone Crashes in Iran

Unidentified drone crashes in Iran

TEHRAN: An unmanned “drone” aircraft has crashed into mountains in the central Iranian province of Lorestan, an Interior Ministry official said on Sunday, but it was unclear where it came from.

“We have not yet identified it,” a ministry spokesman said.

Drones have been the subject of feverish media speculation in Iran, with commentators asking if the United States would use them to spy on Iran after US forces employed them in Afghanistan.

Most of the key sites of Iran’s disputed nuclear programme lie in the centre of the country. Washington accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms, a charge Tehran denies.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-8-2005_pg4_19

[wakeme2008]

15. Let me guess

it was one of Saddam's Drones of MD. :rofl:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

18. Not likely.

Sounds more like...Da Da Da dum Da Dah, dum da Dah...

Or is that my cell phone music?

[Andrushka]

21. You mean the balsa wood model planes?

:rofl:

[hiley]

16. rummy did you

lose something?

[Larkspur]

17. It should have used an Energizer, not a Duracell battery

:sarcasm:

[Fatima]

19. Remember Scott Ritter's recent comments

He said there would be air ops going on in Iran, to scope out and possibly hit preliminary targets. Don't have the link handy but he's been quoted all over the place. So...in spite of the questionable source, I'm not surprised. Feh.