Iranian Plane Carrying 46 Shot Down : Iraq Downs Iranian Plane Carrying 46

Iraqi jets today shot down an Iranian plane carrying 46 passengers, including several members of the Iranian Parliament, on a domestic flight from Tehran to Ahwaz, the official Iranian news agency said.

Iraq had no immediate comment on the claim but earlier said it had shot down a C-130 Hercules transport plane near Ahwaz.

At the United Nations, Iranian Ambassador Said Rajaie-Khorassani said all 46 passengers on board were believed to have been “martyred.” He denied that there were any troops aboard the plane, which he called a Fokker F-28 “Fellowship.”

The Iranian news agency IRNA identified the plane as an F-27 Fokker “Friendship” operated by Asseman Airlines. There was no indication how many crew were on the plane.

Khomeini Aide Aboard

IRNA said the passengers included “several (Parliament) deputies” as well as top clergyman Hojatoleslam Fadhlollah Mahallati, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s personal representative to the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps.

The reports said the plane was “blown up in the sky” by “one or more Iraq jet fighters” around midday local time and crashed near Ahwaz, about 56 miles from the Iraqi border.

Iraq reported earlier that its jets had shot down a C-130 Hercules transport plane near Ahwaz. The Iranians use C-130 flights to Ahwaz to carry both civilian and military passengers, including foreign reporters heading for the front-line areas.

Iran Air, the main domestic airline, has not flown the Tehran-Ahwaz route since the start of the Persian Gulf War 5 1/2 years ago.

Warned to Keep Planes Out

Iraq warned Tehran in March last year that it would consider the whole of Iranian airspace as a “war zone” and warned foreign airlines to keep their planes out.

Iraq also pounded Iranian forces driving into the strategic Faw Peninsula today and put its third and fourth armies on alert in readiness for an anticipated Iranian offensive along the Tigris River, diplomats and official reports said.