Iran foils plane hijacking bid: Revolutionary Guards

Flight from southwestern Ahvaz city to northwestern Mashhad city was target of hijacking, says IRGC

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Friday said it had foiled a hijacking bid of a passenger airline on Thursday night.

In a statement, IRGC said the flight from the southwestern city of Ahvaz to the northwestern city of Mashhad was a target of hijacking at around 10:10 p.m. (1840GMT).

The identity of the suspected hijacker has not been revealed.
The hijacker, it said, sought to divert the Iran Air plane to one of the Persian Gulf countries before the IRGC's air security unit was alerted.

The plane then made an emergency landing in the central Iranian city of Isfahan.

No one was hurt in the incident and all passengers were safely evacuated to another plane at the Isfahan Airport, it noted.

Sources told Anadolu Agency that the matter is under investigation and there is a likelihood of "outside involvement".

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