Flight fight
June 1, 2011
Berlin has rejected claims by Iran that pilot error lead to Tehran closing its airspace.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was on her way to India overnight Monday when Iranian authorities denied her plane entry into Iranian airspace. The German chancellor was forced to circle over Turkey for two hours before the plane was eventually given permission to cross into Iran.
Tehran said Tuesday a technical problem was to blame for the delay, but on the Iranian parliament's website the head of the foreign affairs commission, Allaedine Borujerdi, blamed a German pilot for entering the wrong code.
"Every day, hundreds of foreign aircraft fly over Iranian territory without any problem. If the pilot had entered the correct code, there would have been no problem," Borujerdi said.
Standard procedure
A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry said the plane had strictly followed international procedures. The spokesman claimed Germany had applied for overflight permission with Iranian authorities on April 27 and received it on May 29. Merkel's plane had already crossed into Iran when local authorities turned it back, he added.
After arriving late for her visit to India, Merkel said in New Delhi, "I've never experienced anything like it."
Wolf-Ruthart Born, German state secretary at the Foreign Ministry, said Berlin expected Tehran to avoid such problems in future.
Author: Sarah Harman (dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler