Iranian airplane going to Istanbul makes emergency landing in Tehran

An Iranian plane travelling to Istanbul from Tehran had to make an emergency landing on Saturday, Iran's local media reported. According to reports, the plane took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport and was going to Istanbul when it had to return due to some technical problems. The plane landed safely at Mehrabad airport and no injuries to the passengers or damage to the plane were reported. 

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According to the international press, additional details about the technical problem is not yet known, however, it is being reported that the plane belonged to the Iran Airtour Company. Media reports suggested that the plane left Imam Khomeini airport late Saturday night and the emergency landing came minutes after the take-off. A picture of the plane uploaded on social media did not show any damages, however, Republic does not verify the authenticity of the image. 

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Ukrainian passenger plane crash

Iranian military recently shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane which killed all 176 people on board, many of whom were dual citizens. Iran faced a lot of backlash after it first denied any involvement of its military with the dowing of the jetliner but it had to later admit that the aircraft was actually hit by a missile. The unfortunate incident took place on January 8, at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States were at its peak. Iran fired dozens of missiles on US bases in Iraq before its military shot down the Ukrainian plane. 

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The missile attack by Tehran was a retaliatory action after Washington killed Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike near Baghdad airport on January 3. Soleimani was a top commander in Iran's Quds Force and played an important role in the region as his influence in neighbouring countries grew rapidly. Soleimani played a major role in defeating ISIS in Iraq and Syria fighting alongside Iraqi forces. 

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