ISSUE 12

PAGE 11

Another Russdian made plane  is Down
Tue Feb 12,12:09 PM ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian airliner carrying 117 people crashed into a mountain while trying to land in western Iran Tuesday, killing all aboard, a senior official and local residents said.
The Russian-built Tupolev-154, belonging to Iran Air Tours, an affiliate of the state carrier Iran Air, was flying from the capital Tehran to Khorramabad when it disappeared from radar screens southwest of the city.


Following that crash, Iranian legislators called for tighter aircraft safety controls and an end to the use of planes from Russia.


Iran seeks Iraqi airspace permission for weapons shipments - Israel radio

Text of report by Israel radio on 12 February
Senior Israeli security sources say that Iran has launched contacts with Iraq to enable its planes to fly over Iraqi airspace to Syria in order to transfer weapons shipments to Lebanon. This is reported by our political correspondent Yoni Ben-Menahem. The Israeli security sources say that Iran has approached Iraq in this issue because Turkey no longer permits Iranian planes to transfer weapons shipments to Lebanon because of pressure from the United States and Israel.
Source: Voice of Israel, Jerusalem, in Hebrew 0500 gmt 12 Feb 02
Source: BBC


Official Criticises Efforts to Block Internet Access

The Tehran Times
February 12, 2002
TEHRAN -- Deputy Ministchnology for Research Affairs Reza Mansouri here Sunday criticized efforts to block access to the Internet which he said will ultimately prevent the country's scientific progress.
The Internet, he said, as a communications tool to collect data, is like a pen for a researcher in today's world.
Source: The Tehran Times

Iran thief has fingers amputated in public

TEHRAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - An Iranian thief had four fingers of his right hand amputated in public in the northern town of Kelardasht, the conservative Kayhan daily said on Sunday.
The man, aged 35, had been convicted of eight counts of robbery.
Under Iran's Islamic law, repeat offenders face amputation of their fingers for theft, but sentences are seldom carried out, especially in public.
Source: Info Net

Iran missile trial fails, casualties reported

February 10, 2002
A recent trial of the Iranian Shihab-3 missile failed when the engines exploded, reportedly causing a number of casualties. Experts say the repeated failures in the engines of the ground-to-ground missile will undoubtedly delay its production - however this does not mean Iran does not have operational missiles capa

ble of reaching Israel.
Western sources say the failed trial took place three weeks ago and for the first time the blast claimed casualties and, according to one source, lives. No official Iranian announcement of the mishap has been made.


Despite Pledge, Iran Continues To Peddle Missiles

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Despite its pledge, Iran continues to market missiles to Third World countries.
The latest suitor, industry sources said, is Nigeria.
Western diplomatic sources said Nigeria seeks a range of upgrades of its arsenal of Soviet-era weapons. They said an Iranian delegation held talks earlier this month for both modernisation of ageing systems as well as new weapons such as missiles.
The Iranian delegation was headed by Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Hamidreza Partukzade. Partukzade met Nigerian Defence Minister Theophilous Danjuma.
Source: Middle East NewsLine