According to a Turkish wire service report, the crew of an Iranian cargo airplane has been arrested after weapons were found hidden on the plane, which had been forced to land in Turkey while transiting the country on its way to Syria. The airplane was the second Iranian cargo aircraft flying over Turkish airspace to be forced down for an inspection in recent days.
The arrest of the crew of the Iranian plane comes only week after Israeli commandos seized a weapons-laden ship that was traveling from a Syrian port to Alexandria, Egypt, and which had also made a stop at the Turkish harbor of Mersin. According to Israeli officials, the weapons originated in Iran and were ultimately headed for Gaza.
[UPDATE -- AFP has more on the story. A statement released by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, said the airplane was stopped under the scope of UN sanctions against Iran and only that "banned items" were found during a search.]
[UPDATE II -- Reuters has details from a report Turkey filed on the incident to the UN.]
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