Iran blames Merkel snub on "organizational" reasons

May 31, 2011, 14:46 GMT

New Delhi/Berlin - Iran on Tuesday blamed 'technical-organizational events' for its refusal to allow a plane carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel through its airspace, the German Foreign Ministry said.

Merkel arrived two hours late on an official trip to India after her plane was forced to circle over Turkey for two hours in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The German Foreign Ministry in Berlin then called in the Iranian ambassador, Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, to explain the snub.

During a meeting with Attar, Minstry Secretary of State Wolf-Ruthart Born emphasized that Merkel's plane had been given prior permission to enter Iranian airspace and that the refusal was therefore an 'unprecedented event' which 'breached international conventions.'

Born had conveyed the German government's expectation that such an incident would not happen again, the Foreign Ministry said. Attar had reassured him that he would 'inform his government about Germany's position immediately,' the ministry said.

Merkel's plane was later allowed to pass though while a second plane carrying other government ministers and secretaries of state to the Indian capital New Delhi was allowed through with no delay.

'I've never experienced anything like it,' the chancellor said. 'Neither had the pilots.'

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, currently visiting Australia, said Iran's actions showed a 'disrespect towards Germany, which we cannot accept.'

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