![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2011\/03\/turkey-iran.jpg\" "\\"turkey-iran\\"")
NCRI – Turkish authorities have seized rifles on a Syria-bound Iranian plane, grounded since the weekend, and questioned its seven-man crew, police and judicial sources told AFP on Tuesday.<\/p>\nNCRI – Turkish authorities have seized rifles on a Syria-bound Iranian plane, grounded since the weekend, and questioned its seven-man crew, police and judicial sources told AFP on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The cargo plane was ordered to land in Diyarbakir on Saturday night on suspicion that it had military or illicit cargo on board.<\/p>\n
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The plane had declared a cargo of spare car parts, but the inspection resulted also in the discovery of a box containing automatic rifles, a police source told AFP.<\/p>\n
The crew was taken to a police station for questioning and argued that the weapons were on board as part of routine security measures, declining to give additional information, the source told AFP.<\/p>\n
A Turkish foreign ministry official described the search of the plane as a “routine” procedure under “an over flight permission with the condition of technical landing.” He would not give other details.<\/p>\n
The private Dogan news agency had reported earlier that the crew was detained following the discovery of weapons and ammunition on board.<\/p>\n
After a search lasting several hours, the plane was found to be carrying 150 tonnes of food but “no material contrary to international standards,” AFP reported, citing security sources.<\/p>\n
The planes were forced to land on a request from the United States on suspicion that they carried “nuclear material and weapons,\u201d AFP cited a Turkish newspaper as reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NCRI – Turkish authorities have seized rifles on a Syria-bound Iranian plane, grounded since the weekend, and questioned its seven-man crew, police and judicial sources told AFP on Tuesday. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-10149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-terrorism-a-fundamentalism","7":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n