Iran claims Iraqi missiles bagged Algerian airliner

May 7, 1982

The Algerian plane that crashed in Iran, killing Algerian Foreign Minister Mohamed Benyahia, was hit by Soviet-made Iraqi missiles, Iran's national news agency, IRNA, said. The head of a team investigating the crash told IRNA that pieces of the missiles, with Soviet markings, were found in the tail of the plane three miles from the fuselage. Iran has said two Iraqi fighters chased the plane before it crashed on the Iran-Turkey border. Unidentified Iraqi officials in Baghdad have denied the Iranian charges.