Iraq says Iran bars Iraqi PM from flying through air space

Panicky Iranians have closed their airspace .

Iran overnight refused to allow a plane carrying Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki to cross its airspace, a senior adviser to the Iraqi leader says. Sadiq al-Rikabi, who is accompanying Mr Maliki on the trip to Japan and South Korea, said the Prime Minister's plane entered Iranian airspace at about 8:30pm (local time) on Saturday. "Suddenly the Iranian aviation authorities ordered the pilot to go back," Mr Rikabi said. "We were obliged to fly to Dubai, where we stayed for more than three hours to file a new (flight) plan." Mr Rikabi said it was unclear why Iran had barred Mr Maliki's plane from crossing its territory.
Iran says all flights over its territory require prior authorisation. "It is a technical question and for all the flights there has to be a request to obtain authorisation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said. He did not explicitly confirm that Iran had not allowed the plane to fly over its territory. Iraq's US-backed Government has often had to tread a delicate path in trying to maintain good relations with both Iran, its neighbour to the east, and the United States.