This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claims to have prevented the hijacking of a passenger plane, but has offered few details on what allegedly happened.
The elite paramilitary force said on its website on March 5 that the purported hijacking targeted an Iran Air Fokker 100 jet heading from the southwestern city of Ahvaz to the northwestern city of Mashhad on the evening of March 4.
The aircraft made an emergency landing in the central city of Isfahan, the statement said, adding that the alleged hijacker was “neutralized.” It not clear if that means arrested or killed.
No one was reported injured in the incident.
The IRGC said the hijacker, who was not identified, had sought to divert the flight to a Persian Gulf state.
A Fokker 100 was scheduled to take off from Ahvaz for Mashhad at 7:15 p.m. on March 4, according to the plane-tracking website FlightRadar24.com.
Iranian domestic flights reportedly carry armed air marshals from the IRGC to disrupt any attempted attack or hijacking.
