Barred from Iranian airspace, Merkel's plane briefly diverted to Turkey

A plane carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel Iran was briefly diverted to Turkish airspace this week when Tehran refused to let it go through Iranian airspace. The plane, en route to India, was in Turkish airspace for two hours, and was about to land in Ankara when Iran belatedly gave the green light. Germany filed a diplomatic note protesting the incident, saying it showed disrespect. Iranian authorities said that they had to close the airspace due to technical problems.