Been trying to get a handle on the Iranian strikes into Iraq. The Plane crash looks to be more trouble with Boeing products... Following up on last nights breaking news:
Reuters had been reporting about alleged Iranian claims of 80 casualties- however that news appears to be questionable. As there are reports of zero casualties as well.TASS
“80 people were killed in Iran’s missile attack on US bases in Iraq, Reuters reported with reference to Iran’s state television.”
Most probably propaganda- not necessarily having a thing to do with Iran.It’s not clear how many missiles were fired- Numbers range from as low as 10, 12, 15 to as high as 22Telegraph
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Iran fired 22 missiles into neighbouring Iraq, targeting a US base near Erbil as well as the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar province. US and Iraqi officials both say the barrage of missiles did not cause any casualties, though terrified Iraqis posted footage online of the rockets exploding nearby.
At least one missile missed altogether, landing harmlessly near its target.
See below
احدى صواريخ قصف ايران البالستية التي سقطت في قرية حيطان في هيت ٤٠ كم عن قاعدة عين الاسد.One of the ballistic missiles of Iran that landed in the village of Hitan in Heet, 40 km from the Ein Al-Assad Airbase#insm_iq#Iran #Iraq #USvsIran #IranUsa pic.twitter.com/8MFI8xMUnB— Hamzoz حمزوز (@Hamzoz) January 8, 2020
US media reports suggest that its troops were hiding in bunkers before the missiles landed, following a warning from a missile detection system. (zero casualties)
Iran has concluded proportionate measures under UN charter Article 51
Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 8, 2020
Despite the claim being shared widely by Iranian media, no evidence was provided to back up these claims and all other reports indicated minimal damage and no casualties.Iraqi security officials have said there were no casualties at Iraqi bases, and Britain, Sweden, Poland, Australia, and Denmark, whose troops are stationed in Iraq alongside American forces, also said none of their service members had been killed.While the Pentagon has yet to give an official assessment of the damage caused by the attack, a U.S. military official and a senior administration official told CNN that the initial assessment is that the Iranian missiles hit areas of the al-Asad base not populated by Americans.Analysts suggest that the failure to hit areas housing U.S. troops was not an error. “Their capabilities are much better than tonight’s two launches indicate,” former Delta Force commander Jerry Boykin told Fox News. “I think it is entirely feasible that they had no intention of harming Americans. Iraq’s prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said that Iran had given his government a warning that an attack was imminent, but on Wednesday morning called on all sides to show restraint.“We have called, and we call on all, to exercise restraint, adhere to international covenants, respect the Iraqi state and the decisions of its government, and help it to contain and overcome this serious crisis threatening it, the region, and the world with a devastating, comprehensive war.”
Tragic Plane Crash, Tehran:Some time AFTER the strikes (approx. 5 hours later? ) from Iran we had a plane crash in Tehran.GuardianEarly reports were of an engine failure. Personally speaking, it’s highly doubtful that there is any connection between the Iranian strikes into Iraq and the plane crash. What seems vastly more likely is this plane is in the same family as Boeing’s defective 737. It is a 737-800. (I’ll highlight) So, we’re probably dealing with yet another example of cost cutting, profit primacy, over safety for passengers... That said the incident can be spun to suit other agendas.tragic
A passenger plane bound for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has crashed a few minutes after taking off from Tehran’s main international airport, killing 176 people.Iran’s Red Crescent said there was no chance of finding survivors, and Pir Hossein Kulivand, an Iranian emergency official, later told state TV all those onboard were killed in the crash.Victims of the crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko. Most of the passengers were en route to Kyiv, transiting through there to other destinations.
The Boeing 737-800, operated by Ukrainian International Airlines, took off from Imam Khomeini international airport at 6.12am Tehran time on Wednesday, after being delayed by almost an hour. It took off to the west, but never made it above 8,000ft and went down about 10 minutes later, according to flight-tracking websites.A video purportedly of the crash circulated by Isna showed the aircraft burning as it fell from the sky.
Iranian officials said the plane’s engine had caught fire, causing the pilot to lose control. A statement initially posted on the website of the Ukrainian embassy in Iran ruled out an act of terror and said the crash had been caused by an engine malfunction. However, this was later redacted, with the embassy stating that all information would be provided by an official commission.
The black box containing vital records of how the plane crashed has been located in a field among the debris of the plane outside Tehran, but Iran said it would not hand the device over to plane maker Boeing. It is not clear whether Iranian authorities are disputing the legality of handing over the black box to Boeing, a US company, or whether they are seeking to inspect the box themselves.Boeing, released a brief statement saying it was aware of the media reports about the disaster and was gathering more information.
The 737-800 belongs to the same family as, but is different to, the 737 Max 8 aircraft, which has been grounded since two fatal crashes occurred within six months in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018. The 737-800 operates with a different software system to the one implicated in the Max 8 crashes.
Hassan Rezaeifar, the head of the air crash investigation committee, said it appeared the pilot could not communicate with air-traffic controllers in Tehran in the last moments of the flight. He did not provide further details.Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who cut short a visit to Oman following the crash, ordered an investigation and a sweeping check of “all civilian aircraft” in the country.“Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims,” Dmytro Razumkov, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, said in a statement on Facebook.
One witness, Aref Geravand, told AP the pilot managed to steer the plane towards a football field and away from a residential area. “It crashed near the field and in a water canal,” they said.Boeing, the US’s largest manufacturing exporter, has struggled to regain public trust after its 737 Max plane was involved in the two crashes that killed 346 people.The company has faced intense scrutiny, including allegations that it was aware of problems with a new automatic flight control feature on the 737 Max, which investigators believe is likely to have been the cause of the crashes. Last month, the company fired its chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, who had been widely criticised by families and regulators for his handling of the crisis.Several 737-800 aircraft have been involved in deadly accidents. In March 2016, a FlyDubai 737-800 from Dubai crashed while trying to land at Rostov-on-Don airport in Russia, killing 62 people onboard. Another 737-800 flight from Dubai, operated by Air India Express, crashed in May 2010 while trying to land in Mangalore, India, killing more than 150.
As of this moment, seems most likely that this most recent crash and this plane, related to the 737 Max, has serious issues. Yup, as suspected- Update 10:45 am EST Boeing faces more trouble after crash of a Ukrainian 737 jet in Iran
The 737-800 is not the 737 Max, which has gotten so much attention since two fatal crashes caused the grounding of the jet worldwide in March of 2018. All those planes remain grounded.But the 800 version of the jet, also known as a 737 Next Generation or NG, has had its own problems. (Alongside the 3 crashes reported in the preceding article)
Boeing has delivered about 6,700 of these jets to airlines around the world. In April 2018, parts of the engine on a Southwest Airlines (LUV) flight hit the side of the plane and shattered a window after a fan blade broke. The cabin depressurized and the woman sitting next to the window was killed.
In November 2019, the US National Transportation Safety Board recommended that Boeing redesign the outer covering of the planes' engines to prevent it from flying into the plane should a fan blade break on a future flight. It said that all Boeing 737 Next Generation series airplanes should be retrofitted with whatever fix Boeing comes up with.Boeing said in November it is working on a fix for the jet covers.But the 737 NG has other problems. Cracks have been discovered on structural supports that hold the wings in place, and several dozen have been grounded as a result. But while the FAA has ordered inspections, most of the 737 NGs have continued to fly.
Finally...Putin was in the region yesterday. After a visit to Damascus he headed to Turkey.Iran would have been aware of this when they launched their missile strike.
Turkstream is a problem for the imperialists and their desire to control resources, reshape the region and supply Europe.