January 16, 2011 About 25,000 Iranians have reacted to last week’s crash of Iran Air flight 277 by joining an online protest against sanctions that prevent Iran from purchasing new aircraft and spare parts. The protesters believe sanctions undermine aviation safety standards and are therefore to be blamed for a string of air accidents that have claimed the lives of hundreds of Iranians. Seventy-seven people were killed on January 9 when a passenger plane with some 105 passengers and crew aboard crashed in northwestern Iran. The Boeing-727 plane, which according to Iranian media was 37 years old, broke into pieces when it attempted to make an emergency landing in a snowstorm near the city of Orumiyeh. It was the latest in a series of air crashes blamed on Iran’s aging air fleet, which reportedly uses spare parts bought on the black market or taken from older aircraft. Experts have said that U.S.-imposed sanctions prevent Iran from updating its 30-year-old American aircraft. According to “The New York Times,”<... >>>
