Iran Vows to Respond to Deaths of Two Revolutionary Guards in Syria

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani during a press conference. (Mehr News Agency)
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani during a press conference. (Mehr News Agency)
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Iran Vows to Respond to Deaths of Two Revolutionary Guards in Syria

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani during a press conference. (Mehr News Agency)
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani during a press conference. (Mehr News Agency)

Iran will respond to attacks on its interests in Syria, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday when asked about the killing by Israel of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria last week.

“No action against Iran’s interests and our advisory forces in Syria will go unanswered,” Reuters quoted Kanaani saying.

Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards members who served as military advisers in Syria were killed in an Israeli attack, Iranian state media reported on December 2, in the first reported Iranian casualties during the ongoing war in Gaza.



South Korea Plans to Overhaul Airport Structures after Fatal Jeju Air Crash

The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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South Korea Plans to Overhaul Airport Structures after Fatal Jeju Air Crash

The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed lies at Muan International Airport, in Muan, South Korea, December 30, 2024. (Reuters)

South Korea said it planned to improve the structures housing the antennas that guide landings at its airports this year after December's fatal crash of a Jeju Air plane, which skidded off the runway and burst into flames after hitting such a structure.

The country's transport ministry, which has been inspecting safety conditions at airlines and airports since the Boeing 737-800 jet crashed at the southwestern Muan airport, announced the move to change the so-called "localizer" structures on Monday.

Seven domestic airports, including Muan, were found to have embankments or foundations made of concrete or steel that needed to be changed, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that it would prepare measures to improve the structures by this month and it aimed to complete the improvements by the end of 2025. It did not provide details of the planned improvements.

Aviation safety experts have criticized the placement of the embankment at Muan airport and said it likely raised the death toll of the crash, which killed 179 of the 181 people on board.

The government has also finished its inspection of six domestic airlines flying Boeing 737-800s, and found violations at some operators including exceeding the period of inspection pre- and post-flight, and non-compliance with procedures to resolve plane defects or passenger boarding.

The transport ministry declined to comment on whether Jeju Air was among the airlines where violations were found. A Jeju Air spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.

A special safety inspection of the country's major airport facilities will also take place between Jan. 13-21, the ministry statement said.

The government also extended the shutdown of Muan airport to Jan. 19, the ministry said in a separate statement.