Plane crash kills Iran commander

"The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards ground forces and at least 10 other officers have died in a plane crash.

The small Falcon jet came down near Oroumieh, 900 km (560 miles) north-west of the capital, Tehran. State TV said it was attempting an emergency landing.

Officials blamed bad weather and engine failure for the crash.

Last month, a military transport plane crashed in Tehran, killing 128 people. It came down in a residential district, hitting a 10-storey apartment building.

The latest crash happened at around 0930 (0600GMT) near the Turkish border.

Revolutionary Guards' spokesman, Gen Masoud Jazayeri, said the plane "crashed near the airport due to bad weather, lack of visibility and failure in both engines."

War veteran

On board was Ahmed Kazemi, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards ground forces and a veteran of the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

Correspondents say Gen Kazemi was one of the Guard's most powerful commanders after its commander-in-chief. He was recently appointed to the post Iran's new president.

The Fars news agency, which has close links to the Revolutionary Guards, said a number of other top commanders, including an intelligence chief, were also on board.

Fars said 15 people were on the flight, and 13 had died with two missing. The Iranian news agency, Irna, said 11 people died in the crash.

The Revolutionary Guards, known locally as the Pasdara, is a parallel military force with its own army, air force and navy.

It was set up to enforce and defend the principles of the 1979 Islamic revolution and answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

Lets see who they blame for this...