"Iran Investigates Military Closure Of New Airport"

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Army shuts Tehran's new airport

 
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iran's armed forces closed Tehran's new
international airport on its first day of scheduled flights, the
joint-armed forces said.

Security fears were cited in a statement carried on the official IRNA
news agency, but that may refer to a dispute involving the foreign
consortium that built and was to have run the Imam Khomeini airport, 30
miles (45 km) south of Tehran.

State airline Iran Air took over the new airport's operation from a
Turkish-Austrian consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie (TAV) on Friday.

"Unfortunately officials at the airport ignored the security
measures...on not deploying foreign groups at this vital center in the
country," the joint-armed forces statement said, although Iran Air is
now in charge at the airport.

The airport has proved controversial with the conservative press
rallying behind domestic airlines that said TAV had not prepared it to
international standards.

Before the airport was to open, two local airlines said they would
refuse to transfer their flights in protest at a government decision to
hand over operation of the airport's only existing terminal to the TAV
consortium.

"We are not flying from an airport run by foreigners," Ali Abedzadeh,
director of state-owned Aseman Airline, was quoted as saying by Economic
Hayat-e No daily on Wednesday.

The joint-armed forces were not immediately available to comment, but
said in the statement they allowed only one of six planned flights from
Dubai to land before shutting the airport.

"The airport was closed until further notice," the statement said.

The flights were diverted to the old Mehrabad airport in central Tehran,
a Mehrabad spokeswoman said.

The head of Iran's Aviation Organization told the ISNA students news
agency he opposed the closure.

"The security forces have no right to close the airport and it is
illegal in terms of both domestic and international laws," said Hassan
Hajalifard, adding one of the flights had been diverted to the central
city of Isfahan.

Iran has said it intends to move all international flights to the $475
million airport by the end of July 2004.

The new airport was inaugurated 30 years after the project was
conceived.


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