Two Iranian pilots killed after F7 jet crashes – IRNA

DUBAI (Reuters) – Two Iranian pilots died after their F7 fighter jet crashed on Tuesday near Anarak, 200 km (124 miles) east of the city of Isfahan, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported.

“The jet’s mission was to practice shooting but there was an accident at 8:30 a.m.,” an official from Isfahan province told IRNA.

Experts say Iran has a poor air safety record, with repeated crashes, many involving aircraft bought before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and lacking spare parts for maintenance.

In February, an F5 jet used by the Iranian military crashed into the wall of a school in the northwestern city of Tabriz, killing the two pilots and a person on the ground.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens)