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Plane carrying Americans lands briefly in Iran
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AN aircraft carrying some 100 people including Americans landed in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates,on Friday after a brief landing in southern Iran, the U.S. State Department said.
The plane was chartered by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and set to fly from the U.S. air base at Bagram outside of Kabul to Dubai, but was forced to land in Iran for hours, press reports said.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the aircraft had landed in Dubai, rejecting reports about Iranian fighter jets scrambled in the situation and describing the problem as a "bureaucratic issue" involving the plane's flight plan.
"We appreciate the efforts of all parties to help the passengers get safely to their destination," she said in a statement.
The pilots landed "of their own accord" in the Iranian city of Bandar Abbas after being warned that the plane would be intercepted if they did not land it, The Washington Post reported on its website, quoting U.S. and regional officials.
A regional official said confusion arose when the plane left Bagram several hours after its scheduled departure time, with air traffic controllers in Iran having no "updated" flight plan as it entered Iranian airspace.
A U.S. official said the Iranians ordered the plane back to Afghanistan, but the pilot replied that he did not have enough fuel for the return trip. The Iranians subsequently ordered the plane to land, the Post said.
FlyDubai, the operator of the aircraft based in the UAE, flies its aircraft regularly in Iranian airspace.
The United States cut diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after a group of Iranian students captured some 60 American diplomats in 1979 and held 52 of them in captivity for 444 days.
The two sides, along with Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany, are currently involved in negotiations over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
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