According to a report by Times of Israel, on Tuesday February 24, 2026, an Iranian army helicopter conducting a training exercise crashed into a bustling fruit and vegetable market in central Iran on Tuesday morning, claiming four lives in a tragic accident that has renewed scrutiny of the nation’s aviation safety record.
The aircraft belonging to the Army Aviation Training Centre came down in Dorcheh, a town in Khomeini Shahr County within Isfahan province, where the military maintains a major airbase. State television confirmed the deaths of the pilot, identified as Colonel Hamed Sarvazad, and his co-pilot, Major Mojtaba Kiani, along with two market vendors who were operating their stalls when the helicopter struck.
Emergency response teams quickly extinguished the resulting fire as footage broadcast by state media showed wreckage scattered across the market compound. The Army Aviation Training Centre stated the cause remains under investigation, with local judiciary chief Asadollah Jafari opening a parallel case and dispatching investigators to the scene.
This incident marks the second military aviation disaster in Iran within a week. Last week, a United States-built F-4 fighter jet crashed during a late-night training mission in Hamadan province, killing one pilot while the other successfully ejected to safety. Authorities attributed that crash to a likely technical fault.
Aviation experts have long cited Iran’s poor air safety record, noting the country operates aging aircraft purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Decades-long sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies have severely restricted Iran’s ability to acquire original spare parts for maintenance or upgrade its military fleet. While Iran has purchased fighter and training aircraft from Russia and seeks advanced Su-35 jets, these have yet to be delivered by Moscow.
The helicopter crash occurs as tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran ahead of nuclear talks scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland. In recent weeks, the United States military has deployed hundreds of advanced fighter aircraft across the region, stationed both at military bases and aboard two aircraft carrier strike groups, while threatening strikes against Iran if negotiations fail.
Iranian officials have warned the nation will not yield to American pressure despite the substantial military buildup. The timing of Tuesday’s crash underscores the operational challenges facing Iran’s armed forces during this period of heightened military readiness and regional instability……See More
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