Washington: A chartered flydubai aircraft on its way from the US airbase at Bagram in Afghanistan to Dubai was re-routed to Bandar Abbas, Iran, on Friday because of “issues with the flight plan,” a US State Department official said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Iranian authorities asked the flydubai aircraft to return to Afghanistan. When told the aircraft did not have enough fuel to fly back, it was rerouted to Bandar Abbas, the official said, expressing the hope it would be able to leave Iran soon.
In a statement, a flydubai representative said the flight “has been diverted en route to Dubai and an updated arrival time is being established.”
It is understood the flight has now left Iran on its way to Dubai.
The State Department official said an earlier report that Iranian fighter aircraft had forced the plane to land in Iran was not correct.
Washington and Tehran have had an antagonistic relationship for decades. The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran in April 1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the US Embassy in Tehran and took US citizens hostage. Fifty-two Americans were ultimately held for 444 days.
At present, the two are divided over the Iranian nuclear programme, which Washington suspects is aimed at building a bomb but which Iran says is for strictly civilian purposes.
The United States, which has spearheaded sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to give up sensitive uranium enrichment work, is negotiating with other major powers to try to get Iran to curb its nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief.
