Iranians mark US copter crash during failed 1980 rescue try

Iranians mark US copter crash during failed 1980 rescue try


By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer

DASHT-E-KAVIR, Iran (AP) - Hundreds of Iranian hard-liners held noon prayers and gave thanks Thursday in Iran's central desert where a U.S. military helicopter crashed in 1980 during a failed mission to free 52 Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

Caught in a sandstorm, a helicopter collided with a C-130 transport plane at the ill-fated operation's desert landing spot. Eight American servicemen were killed at the spot known in the U.S. as "Desert One."

Almost 2,000 students and members of the paramilitary Basij forces were bused to the site in the Dasht-e-Kavir desert where Iran later erected a "Mosque of Thanks," or Masjed-e-Shokr in Persian.

The tour, sponsored by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, is an annual event to keep anti-U.S. sentiments high among Iranian youth. Apart from the mosque, there is nothing at the site 70 miles from the nearest town, Tabas. At night, the mosque light is the only man-made illumination in the area.

Hundreds at the ceremony kneeled in the midday heat, remembering the day 28 years ago when U.S. helicopters on the hostage rescue mission were caught in a vicious sandstorm that led to the collision. Iranian clerical leaders have credited divine intervention for the incident.

"The sandstorm was God's miracle that protected the revolutionary Iran at that time from a foreign attack it was not militarily capable of dealing with," said Abdolrahim Rahimi, a cultural official in Tabas.

He said the gathering thanked God for "nullifying the conspiracy of the U.S. against the newly established Islamic republic."

Addressing the worshippers, Sardar Alaei, a Revolutionary Guards commander, said Iran should build a city called "Death to America" at the site to showcase "America's failure in invading Iran."

Thousands of people also took to the streets in the central Iranian towns of Yazd and Tabas chanting "Death to America" to mark the anniversary, state television said.

The U.S. operation ordered by President Carter was designed as a complex two-night mission beginning on April 24, 1980. The first stage involved establishing a small staging post at the Desert One site.

Eight RH-53D helicopters, flying in at low altitude from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the Indian Ocean, were supposed to rendezvous with C-130 transport planes at the site.

Two helicopters turned back because of mechanical problems, and one of the six that made it to Desert One had a malfunctioning hydraulics system, leading commanders to order the mission aborted.

But as the helicopters maneuvered into position for refueling on the ground, the whirling rotors of one sliced into a C-130 carrying fuel, setting off a fire that killed eight servicemen and injured several others. The force loaded onto the remaining aircraft and flew to safety.

After extensive diplomatic efforts, the U.S. Embassy hostages were eventually released on Jan. 20, 1981, shortly after President Reagan took the oath of office. They had spent 444 days in captivity.


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By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer