Stop Fundamentalism – Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, was rejected a fly-Over by Hungarian authorities, said an Iranian foreign ministry source Monday. He was on his way to Hague to attend an International meeting on Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Sunday when Hungarian air authorities forced his plane to return.
“Hungarian government refused to allow the airplane carrying Ali Akbar Salehi to fly across its space and raised some technical pretexts, whereas the plane had received permission to use air space of different countries, “said a source at Iran’s foreign ministry.
Hungarian officials say the plane had technical issues and did not meet country’s overflight standards.
Many Iranian officials have been subject to a travel ban as part of the European Union sanctions imposed on the country due to its nuclear development program. Salehi was originally on that list when he was the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency. He was later taken off the list when he became the foreign minister.
“We have called for Hungarian ambassador to explain the issue since the reasons provided by officials of the country were not convincing,” said the source in Iran’s foreign ministry to reporters.
Iran has canceled Salehi’s trip to Netherland as a result.
