Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Plane forced to land in Iran

Later in the day the European papers said it was not a U.S. plane -

The BBC says it was a mistake, that Iran forced the US warplane to land.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7657066.stm


BBC

Page last updated at 13:19 GMT, Tuesday, 7 October 2008 14:19 UK


A US warplane has been forced to land in Iran after violating Iranian territory, the Iranian semi-official Fars news agency has reported.

The Falcon aircraft entered Iranian airspace from Turkey, flying at low altitude to avoid radar, Fars said.

The agency said it was detected by Iranian fighter jets, which forced it to land at an undisclosed airport.

Passengers included five senior American generals and three civilians, the report said.

The agency said the group was interrogated at the airport and then allowed to leave after it was realised they had entered unintentionally.
More details to follow.




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http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/iran-says-it-forced-down-us-warplane-954097.html

London Independent
October 7, 2008

Iran says it forced down US warplane

Reuters
Tuesday, 7 October 2008

The Iran News Agency sats a US warplane violated the country's territory and was forced to land.

The agency said five senior US military officials had been interrogated at an Iranian airport and released a day later after it became clear that the plane had not entered intentionally.

But the Pentagon says that all its aircraft in the region were accounted for and that it had no reports of an Iran landing.

The incident came as Iran accused six major powers of "unreasonable behaviour" over its disputed nuclear programme, although the European Union said today it would stick to a dual approach combining diplomacy with the threat of sanctions.

Tehran's accusation was contained in a letter from its top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, that was delivered to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana yesterday.

"It's a letter that in a way complains about our policy but our policy is clear. It's a double-track approach," Solana told Reuters in Berlin on Tuesday.

Asked whether the letter would make negotiations with Iran more difficult, Solana replied: "It's just a letter."

The United States and other western powers suspect Tehran is seeking a nuclear bomb under cover of its civilian nuclear programme. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, denies it has any such intentions, saying it only wants to generate electricity.

Jalili's letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, was addressed through Solana to foreign ministers of the six-power group consisting of the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

In June, the six gave Iran a beefed-up offer of political and economic incentives, including nuclear reactors, in exchange for suspending its uranium enrichment programme.

Iran responded at the time with a non-committal letter. The group of six handed the United Nations Security Council a toothless draft resolution on Iran's nuclear programme in September after Washington, facing stiff Russian opposition, failed to secure agreement for fresh sanctions.

"In the judgment of the world community, this unreasonable behaviour is an indication of the lack of a clear response to the principled questions of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jalili said in the letter.

Iran has shown no sign of compromise, vowing to resist U.S. "bullying" to force it to abandon its right to develop peaceful nuclear technology. Enrichment is at the heart of the dispute because it can be used either to provide reactor fuel or - if the uranium is purified to a much higher degree - to supply the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

Jalili said "logical behaviour" by major powers could pave the ground for constructive talks to remove international concerns over the country's nuclear work.

Solana, representing the six powers, and Jalili last discussed Tehran's nuclear programme by telephone in August.

"It is interesting ... to see that in the course of talks ... the other party (the major powers) ... resorts to levers of pressure instead of offering answers to questions and trying to remove ambiguities," Jalili said.

A senior Iranian official said Jalili's letter would also be delivered to the Swiss embassy in Tehran on Tuesday. Switzerland represents US interests in Iran since Washington severed ties with Tehran shortly after its 1979 Islamic revolution.

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