Iran denies overflight rights to Merkel's plane
Iran briefly closed its airspace to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's aircraft en-route to India, triggering a diplomatic spat between two nations.
By PTI | Updated:
BERLIN/NEW DELHI: Iran on Tuesday briefly closed its airspace to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's aircraft en-route to India, triggering a diplomatic spat between two nations with Berlin declaring the incident as "unacceptable" and summoning the Iranian envoy.
Iranian Ambassador in Berlin was called to the Foreign Office and a strong protest was lodged, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after Merkel's plane had to circle over Turkey for two hours before being given permission to overfly Iranian airspace in the wee hours of today.
Asked about her reaction during a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Merkel said, "I have arrived safely and that is what is important."
However, she did not elaborate on the reasons behind such an unexpected incident, given that the first plane carrying her cabinet colleagues for the same trip were allowed to go without any hassle.
In a statement in Berlin, Westerwelle said, "Hindering the German chancellor's passage over Iran is absolutely unacceptable. It shows a lack of respect towards Germany that we will not accept."
"Such a breach of international conventions will in no way be tolerated by Germany," he added.
The VVIP flight, which besides the German Chancellor had a large delegation on board, arrived two hours late in New Delhi.
Iranian Ambassador in Berlin was called to the Foreign Office and a strong protest was lodged, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after Merkel's plane had to circle over Turkey for two hours before being given permission to overfly Iranian airspace in the wee hours of today.
Asked about her reaction during a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, Merkel said, "I have arrived safely and that is what is important."
However, she did not elaborate on the reasons behind such an unexpected incident, given that the first plane carrying her cabinet colleagues for the same trip were allowed to go without any hassle.
In a statement in Berlin, Westerwelle said, "Hindering the German chancellor's passage over Iran is absolutely unacceptable. It shows a lack of respect towards Germany that we will not accept."
"Such a breach of international conventions will in no way be tolerated by Germany," he added.
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The VVIP flight, which besides the German Chancellor had a large delegation on board, arrived two hours late in New Delhi.
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