'Americans' forced to land in Iran were lost Hungarians

For a fleeting period on Tuesday afternoon, Tehran's official news agencies claimed that Iranian jet fighters had forced an American plane to land and officials were interrogating its military crew. By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor At a time of rising tension between the two powers, this potentially incendiary incident summoned memories of the hostage crisis of three decades ago, when Iranian Revolutionary Guards held 52 US diplomats captive for 444 days. Yet it all turned out to be a mirage. The aircraft and all of its occupants were, it transpired, Hungarians. They had all been released and allowed to proceed. Their Falcon jet, usually employed to transport VIPs, had been en route from Turkey to Afghanistan when it apparently strayed into Iranian airspace. The aircraft flew at "low altitude in a bid to... [read full story]