Hamburg airport, one of the most important in Germany, had to temporarily suspend all flights this Monday due to a bomb threat. against a plane coming from Tehran, the capital of Iran.
Federal police searched the aircraft and the luggage of the 198 passengers and 16 crew members, but did not find any explosive devices. The incident comes amid tension between Iran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program and the recent drone attack on an Israeli ship in the Gulf of Oman.
According to federal police, they received an anonymous email around 11:00 am local time, warning of a possible attack against an Iranian plane that was due to land in Hamburg. It was Iran Air flight IR722, an Airbus A330-200 that had taken off from Tehran at 5:30 am local time.
The police activated the security protocol and ordered the temporary cessation of takeoffs and landings at Hamburg airport, which affected about 30 flights. The Iranian plane was escorted by two Eurofighter fighters of the German air force until its arrival in Hamburg, where it was directed to a special area.
Passengers and crew were evacuated and underwent security checkswhile the plane and luggage were inspected by specialized agents and sniffer dogs.
After finding no sign of a bomb, the police lifted the alert and resumed operations at the airport around 2:00 pm local time.
Federal police spokesman Frank Reschreiter said he took the threat very seriously. although he did not give details about the content of the email or the possible motivations of the author.
Reschreiter added that an investigation has been opened to identify the sender of the message and determine whether it is a prank or an attempted sabotage.
The incident occurs at a time of high tension between Iran and the West over the future of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015.from which the United States withdrew in 2018 and which Iran has failed to comply with since 2019 by reactivating its uranium enrichment.
With information from The Local Deutschland / Crisis 24
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