The Fall of the Sky

Several newspapers dedicated their front pages on Monday to the crash of the Tehran-Yasuj plane belonging to "Aseman Airlines." The newspaper Sazandegi wrote on its front page, "The sky hit the mountain," while Aftab Yazd titled its front page, "Blood rained from the sky," and Shahre Vandan reported, "The fall of the sky." Vatan-e Emruz stated, "The heart of Dena burned," and Kayhan reported that "the Tehran-Yasuj flight did not reach its destination." The newspaper Keliid also wrote on its front page, "This time, the sky mourned Iran." The newspaper Iran named Sunday as "Black Sunday" due to the plane crash, reporting: "At 8 AM yesterday, flight number 3704 of Aseman Airlines departed from Mehrabad Airport with 66 passengers and crew members for Yasuj in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, but the plane encountered an accident over the 'Bideh' region of Semiram and crashed into the foggy heights of Mount Dena." This government-aligned newspaper noted that the 25-year-old plane, an ATR 72, had been in service with Aseman Airlines since 1993 and operated a daily round trip between Tehran and Yasuj. Sharq, with the headline "The Unknown Equation of the Missing Plane," reported that Mohammad Reza Tabesh, the head of the Environment Faction in the tenth parliament, mentioned that "defenders of detained environmental activists" were on this flight. The newspaper quoted Tabesh stating that a group of environmental and natural resource specialists who had recently defended the efforts of activists in the Islamic Consultative Assembly lost their lives in the plane crash. Sharq noted that in a flight that never landed in Yasuj, "at least 22 Iranian specialists ascended to the sky over the peaks of Dena, and their loss will have economic repercussions for Iran in the future." The flight also carried Behzad Syadati, an expert from the Iran Water Resources Management Company, who intended to visit Yasuj to oversee the implementation of a restoration and balance project for the plains of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. Mohammad Sadegh Noori, a planning expert from the Thermal Power Generation Holding Company, was another passenger on the crashed plane, aiming to assess the environmental impacts of a 500-megawatt combined cycle power plant project in Gachsaran. Three experts from the Mashanir Company, namely Mohammad Hadi Fahimi, Ahmad Anvari, and Maryam Anvari, accompanied him. The newspaper also reported that Naghi Nashtifar, a representative from the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, was on this eternal flight with the electrical team sent to Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. The passenger list included Ali Farzaneh, Mohammad Mehdi Samiei Nasrabadi, and Hamid Reza Hedayatkhani, experts from the Engineering Office of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization, who intended to travel to Yasuj for a government mission. Simultaneously, the newspaper Etemad reported that "Mohammad Hadi Fahimi; a wildlife expert at the NGO Pars Reptiles, Ali Farzaneh from the Forests and Rangelands Organization, Mohammad Mehdi Samiei, and Hamid Reza Hedayatkhani" were among the environmental activists on the Tehran-Yasuj flight. The newspaper Bahar referred to the victims of the Tehran-Yasuj plane crash as "victims of politics," stating that the loss of life among the passengers is directly related to the radical policies that have prevailed in the country for years, and in a way, these individuals are victims of politics and politicians. For years, we have been under the impact of severe sanctions in the aviation sector, which have hindered the purchase of new planes and necessary parts. These sanctions are directly related to foreign policy, which has sacrificed national interests for undefined frameworks where cost-benefit calculations have no place. A policy that pays little attention to dialogue and acceptance of international norms and, in practice, prioritizes the policy of "building walls around the country." The newspaper Qanoon titled its front page "The Lost in the Sky," stating: "We are still burdened by the grief of the Sanchi ship, we are still mourning the Kermanshah earthquake, we still feel the pain of the Plasco incident and the collision of two trains; it seems that news of incidents and death does not intend to leave us; so much so that we no longer even have the opportunity to mourn." This newspaper emphasized that "psychological pressure and anxiety have become our constant companions, and we are always waiting for a new incident to occur." While the bodies of the victims of the Sanchi ship have yet to be found and the earthquake-affected people of Kermanshah are struggling with floods and winter cold, the news of the crash of Aseman Airlines, which was en route from Tehran to Yasuj, falls upon us. Once again, pain and sorrow weigh heavily on compatriots who await their loved ones eternally. Kayhan, which is published under the supervision of Ali Khamenei's representative, accused Hassan Rouhani's government in its editorial titled "Aristocracy and Infiltration Line; the Gas Chamber Operation" of facilitating "infiltration" into the Islamic Republic. This newspaper listed civil, political activists, and some dual nationals as "infiltrators," including Kavous Seyed Emami, a professor at Imam Sadiq University and environmental activist who was arrested and died during his detention on February 4. Kayhan wrote: "The enemy seeks to infiltrate through certain elements in some important decision-making centers; examples such as Darya Isfahan, Jason Rezaian related to the office of a senior statesman, Nizar Zaka connected to the team of a human rights assistant, and the management of the environment, Kavous Seyed Emami and Kavah Madani, and the father and son Namazi, who wrote programs for some strategic government centers, illustrate instances of infiltration. What connection exists between the ineffective aristocratic management and the dissatisfaction it creates with the infiltration line that the former seeks to provide a security margin for the activities of the latter?" The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, titled its front page "The Danger of Revolutionary Reaction," stating: "The leader of the revolution apologized for the failure to implement justice and warned about the return of conditions to pre-revolutionary times." This newspaper simultaneously evaluated the remarks of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on Sunday as "the most important or one of the most important statements" he has made in the past forty years, writing: "Yesterday, a new foundation and pillar for the Islamic Revolution was established, which has not happened in any other revolution. A man from within the revolution acknowledges the backwardness in implementing the revolution's main slogan, apologizes, and sounds the alarm for the 'return to the past' of the revolution so that a new movement of the Islamic Revolution, which aims to eliminate the plague of aristocracy among managers, reliance on affluent classes, and dependence on foreign trust, can begin." The newspaper Jomhouri Eslami reported on its front page, quoting Ali Khamenei: "We acknowledge that we have fallen behind in social justice." This newspaper, in its editorial titled "Is There an Ear to Listen?" pointed out that the government spokesman and the head of the Planning and Budget Organization stated that "the managers of the violating credit institutions were each connected to someone or somewhere and are still roaming freely," writing: "The sharp edge of societal and systemic demands should be directed at those influential individuals and some places that have imposed such a turbulent and worrying atmosphere on society and the economic system of the country with costly support and risky favoritism. With such performance from these individuals, regardless of the period of responsibility they hold, what credibility and dignity remain for the economic, banking, and financial system of the country?" The newspaper Jomhouri Eslami wrote: "Why does the judicial system still fail to fulfill its responsibilities in the face of such costly and shameful events? Why should the factors creating such a turbulent atmosphere in the monetary and financial system of the country still roam freely? Why, while petty thieves are behind bars, should the thieves and looters of public funds and abusers of the credibility of the monetary, financial, and banking system of the country continue to plunder without any concern?" Amir Hossein Chahaltan, in an interview with the newspaper Sharq about "the political role of writers and intellectuals in our time," stated: "They wanted to eliminate us." This writer emphasized that "reformists have a political role; how can they fill the void left by writers and intellectuals when they do not even perform their own duties correctly?" He stated: "Manipulating a society in the twenty-first century is the most irrational act possible. A civil society is not created by them; it emerges naturally, provided that they refrain from manipulating the natural order of society." Amir Hossein Chahaltan told Sharq: "Eliminations have not decreased at all. Why did Beyzai leave? Why does Amir Naderi not return? Why is Taghvaei sitting at home? Why do we not see a new novel from Dowlatabadi? According to us, his last novel was written about twenty years ago; what has he done since then? It has been fourteen years since my last novel was published; why is the outcome of this long time not available in Persian?"