Turkey seizes cargo of Iranian plane en route to Syria

[News_Editor]

Turkey seizes cargo of Iranian plane en route to Syria

2011-03-23 23:00:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

ANKARA, TURKEY (BNO NEWS) -- Turkey on Wednesday seized the cargo of an Iranian plane which was en route to Syria for violating United Nations sanctions, the Anatolia News Agency reported.

Gregory Delavekourasm, spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said that experts found prohibited goods inside an Iranian airplane which was forced to land in the southern province of Diyarbakir.

The content of the seized cargo was not disclosed but the UN sanctions prohibit the country led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from exporting weapons and actions related to uranium enrichment.

The plane was asked to land at Diyarbakir airport on Saturday as it was flying over Turkish airspace. The aircraft is registered with the Iranian YAS Aviation. Delavekourasm said the landing was ordered to conduct a routine check.

The plane was allowed to return to Iran but without the banned goods on Tuesday. This was the second incident involving an Iranian aircraft carrying prohibited cargo this month.

Last week, Turkish fighter jets forced a plane to land at Diyarbakır airport after it was believed the aircraft was transporting weapons from Iran to Syria. Authorities said that it was a routine procedure.

After the checks, performed by a team trained in chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear cargo, no weapons or other illegal goods were found inside the aircraft and thus it was allowed to leave.

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