Airliner crashes in Iran, killing all 65 people on board.
TEHRAN — An Iranian commercial airplane brought back into service only months ago after being grounded for seven years crashed Sunday in a foggy, mountainous region of southern Iran, and officials feared all 65 people on board were killed.
The crash of the Aseman Airlines ATR-72 marks yet another fatal aviation disaster for Iran, which for years was barred from buying airplane parts for needed maintenance due to Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
Its nuclear accord with world powers allows it to get those parts and the country has made deals worth tens of billions of dollars for new aircraft. However, President Trump’s refusal to recertify the deal has injected uncertainty into those sales while Iranians still fly in aging aircraft.
The ATR-72, a twinengine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, went down near its destination of the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, 485 miles south of the Iranian capital, Tehran, where it took off.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, although weather was severe in the area. Dense fog, high winds and heavy snow in the Zagros Mountains made it impossible for rescue crews in helicopters to reach the site Sunday, state television reported.
Aseman Airlines spokesman Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai told state TV that all on board Flight No. EP3704 were killed. They included 59 passengers and six crew members, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Sunday night.
“After searching the area, we learned that unfortunately ... our dear passengers had lost their lives,” Tabatabai said.
Both Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani offered their condolences.
Tabatabai said the plane crashed into Mount Dena, which is about 14,435 feet tall. The plane’s last signal showed it at 16,975 feet and descending, according to airplane-tracking website FlightRadar24.
One previous passenger on the route posted a video Sunday showing that the flight typically comes in just over the mountain peaks. Aeronautical charts for the airport warn pilots to keep an altitude of 15,000 feet. The airport itself is at nearly 6,000 feet.
On Instagram, Aseman Airlines highlighted the doomed aircraft in October, saying it had been “grounded” for seven years but would be “repaired and will be operational after checking and testing.”