Turkey seizes Iranian airline's plane over unpaid debt of $3.4m

Turkish authorities have seized a plane belonging to Iran's Caspian Airlines in Istanbul over an alleged unpaid debt of 3.0 million euros ($3.4 million), media from both countries said on Tuesday.

The Boeing 737 jet had completed embarkment and was preparing for takeoff on Monday, when officials detained it on the basis of a court-issued seizure order, Turkey's *Anadolu *news agency said.

The reports did not cite new US sanctions against Iranian airlines, an effort to further choke the country's economy during the US-Israeli war on Iran.

In a statement relayed by Iranian state television, Caspian Airlines said the Istanbul flight to Tehran faced "temporary operational restrictions regarding one of its Boeing aircraft due to an administrative issue in Turkey".

The TV report confirmed that passengers had to disembark but that the airline had taken "administrative" measures with regards to a debt of three million euros for "Istanbul airport services".

It said the plane would return to Iran on Tuesday.

Turkey's foreign ministry did not respond to *AFP *requests for comments.

Turkey has so far not complied with the new US sanctions announced in early September, which threatened that anyone doing business with Iran's airlines risks being cut off from the dollar-dominated global financial system.

Several airlines, including Iran Air, continue to offer regular flights between the two countries.

However Mahan Air, a major freight transporter, said last week it was suspending all flights to Turkey at Ankara's request.