TEHRAN (Reuters)
An Iranian army helicopter crashed in bad weather in a mountainous region near the border with northern Iraq, killing six military personnel, Iranian media reported on Saturday.
Five others were injured in the crash, which happened during maneuvers involving Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Friday, the ISNA news agency reported. Two were in critical condition, the IRNA news agency said.
Mohammad Hadisar, governor of the northwestern city of Piranshahr, said the helicopter came down while transporting troops and equipment and blamed it on the weather and a "technical problem", ISNA said.
Another Iranian news agency, Mehr, said it crashed during a military operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is fighting for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
Mehr said the helicopter crashed because of bad weather and strong winds but added the armed forces had inflicted damage against the rebel PJAK during operations in the past few days.
Other news agencies did not refer to PJAK in their reports.
In February, Iranian media said at least 13 soldiers, including two Revolutionary Guards commanders, were killed when a military helicopter crashed near the border with Turkey.
Iranian media blamed the February crash on bad weather, but Iranian Kurdish rebels said they shot the helicopter down. PJAK rebels have bases in the remote mountains of northeastern Iraq.
Various Iranian Kurdish rebel groups have fought a low-level conflict against Tehran for many decades, complaining of neglect and discrimination by the central government.
The Revolutionary Guards are an ideologically driven force, with a separate command structure from the regular military.
Its commander was quoted on Saturday as threatening to deal heavier blows in future against the United States after Washington said it may label the force a terrorist group.
The Iranian daily Kayhan said commander-in-chief Yahya Rahim Safavi made clear the Guards would not bow to U.S. pressure and would use all their leverage against the Americans.
U.S. officials said on Wednesday that Washington may soon name the Guards a foreign terrorist group, a move that would enable it to target the force's finances.
It would be the first time the United States has placed the armed forces of a sovereign government on its list of terrorist organizations.
Kayhan did not provide direct quotes from the speech in the central city of Isfahan on Thursday.
Washington accuses Tehran of seeking to build nuclear bombs, a charge Iran denies. |
