Iran denies German leader access to airspace, Germany says

A plane carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel was denied flyover permission by Iran for several hours.

Berlin (CNN) -- Iran denied a plane carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel permission to fly through its airspace, forcing the aircraft to circle in Turkish airspace for two hours, German government spokeswoman Elke Ramelow told CNN Tuesday.

Merkel was finally allowed to fly over Iran en route to India, Ramelow said, adding that Tehran had given no explanation.

The German government had confirmed overflight rights beforehand, Ramelow said.

There was no immediate Iranian comment on the incident.

Merkel was in India on Tuesday as part of an Asian tour.

Share this on:

Mixx Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon LinkedIn Viadeo