A plane carrying senior Iranian officials that was forced to land in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday had arrived at Tehran Mehrabad International Airport. According to IRNA, a Boeing 707 airplane carrying several senior Iranian officials who had accompanied President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his official visit to Senegal, Cuba and Venezuela was forced to land at Istanbul airport on the pretext it did not have the permission to fly over Turkey's skies left eventually to Tehran Wednesday.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza-Baqeri brushed aside the Turkish allegation, saying the plane's interception was "illegal." He told IRNA that the Boeing 707 had permission to fly over Turkish airspace over the next 48 hours.
The deputy governor-general of Istanbul apologized to Baqeri for the "misunderstanding and misinterpretation."
