Caspian Airlines plane seized in Turkey over debt, media say

Turkish authorities seized a Boeing 737 belonging to Iran's Caspian Airlines in Istanbul over an alleged unpaid debt of 3.0 million euros, or $3.4 million, Turkish and Iranian media said Tuesday.

Turkey's Anadolu news agency said the jet had finished boarding and was preparing to take off on Monday when officials detained it under a court-issued seizure order.

Caspian Airlines, in a statement relayed by Iranian state television, said the Istanbul-to-Tehran flight faced “temporary operational restrictions” involving one of its Boeing aircraft because of an administrative issue in Turkey. Iranian state television said passengers had to disembark and that the airline had taken administrative measures over a three-million-euro debt for Istanbul airport services. It said the plane would return to Iran on Tuesday.

Turkey's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

The media reports did not cite new US sanctions against Iranian airlines. Turkey has so far not complied with those sanctions, and several Iranian airlines, including Iran Air, continue regular flights between Iran and Turkey. Mahan Air said last week it was suspending all flights to Turkey at Ankara's request.