TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian fighter jet crashed Tuesday in southern
Iran near the country's nuclear power plant that is to start up over the
weekend, a semi-official news agency reported. The two pilots ejected
safely.
The Fars agency quoted local government official Gholam
Reza Keshtkar as saying one of Iranian airforce's F-4 planes crashed
about four miles (six kilometers) north of the city of Bushehr. The city
is located 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran.
Keshtkar
said the pilot and co-pilot ejected safely from the plane before it
crashed but were rushed to the hospital in Bushehr. He didn't provide
other details.
Another local official, Mohammad Hasan Shanbadi,
said technical failure was the cause of the crash but did not elaborate.
He said the plane crashed in the desert, close to an industrial center.
The
Bushehr nuclear power plant — Iran's first such facility — is expected
to start fueling up this weekend.
Iran purchased many U.S.-made
planes, including scores of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs before the
1979 Islamic Revolution and during the rule of the late pro-Western
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
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