TEHRAN, Iran — A man attempting to hijack a Syriabound flight carrying a number of Iranian lawmakers was arrested onboard, Iran’s state radio reported Saturday.
Security guards on the Tehran-Damascus flight thwarted the attempt and arrested the suspect, the report said. No one was hurt.
The radio report said an unspecified number of Iranian lawmakers were on the plane.
The semiofficial Fars news agency said the attempted hijacking happened minutes before the Iran Air flight landed in the Syrian capital.
Fars quoted Iran Air spokesman Shahrokh Nushabadi as saying the suspect, who appeared to be mentally unstable, said he was intending to hijack the Airbus plane, but that security guards arrested the unarmed man.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said late Saturday that the suspect was affiliated with an unspecified Iranian opposition group. It did not provide further details.
Front Section, Pages 12 on 11/28/2010