Washington has been pressuring
Baghdad to ensure that all Iranian planes flying through its airspace are
ordered to land and checked for weapons. This is the first time Iraqi officials
have said that they have done so.
"We requested an Iranian
cargo plane to land and it responded and was searched by air cargo specialists
and security agencies," Nasser Bandar, the head of Iraq's civil aviation
authority, told AFP.
"We did not see anything
contrary to the instructions banning the transport of weapons between the
Syrian and Iranian sides, so we therefore allowed it to continue its
trip," he said.
A high-ranking Iraqi official
told AFP that the aircraft was bound for Damascus from Tehran.
Meanwhile, a diplomat at the
Iranian embassy confirmed that Iraqi authorities had ordered an Iranian cargo
plane to land at Baghdad airport and searched the aircraft, which belongs to
Iran Air.
On September 21, Iraq denied
permission for a North Korean aircraft to cross its airspace on its way to
Syria over suspicions it would carry arms and advisers there.
Iraq has pointedly avoided
calling for the departure from office of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who
is locked in a bloody civil war with rebels opposed to his regime, and has
instead urged an end to violence by all parties.
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