Iran blocks Merkel's flight en route to India
(Read article summary)Iran has not said why it denied German Chancellor Merkel's plane entry to Iranian airspace, although relations between the two have deteriorated over Iran's nuclear program and EU sanctions.
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"Coordination problems" delayed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's arrival in India for a trade visit when Iran refused her plane entry into Iranian airspace for two hours while it was en route to India (see route).
The plane was forced to wait over Turkey until it eventually received permission to pass through Iran, which has not given a reason for the refusal.
The Iranian ambassador to Germany was summoned to the German foreign ministry to explain his country's "disrespect towards Germany which we cannot accept," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, German newspaper Der Spiegel reports.
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