Official Denies Iranian Jets Deployment to Tabriz after Turkey Coup
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A ranking security official in Iran’s province of East Azarbaijan quashed rumors that the Air Force has dispatched its rapid reaction fighter jets from different bases to the province’s capital, Tabriz, amid chaotic situation in neighboring Turkey following an attempted coup.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, deputy governor of the province for political and security affairs, Saeed Shabestari Khiabani, dismissed the report as false rumors going around in the virtual space.
He also called on Iranian travelers in Turkey to return home immediately.
Amid the volatile situation in Turkey after an abortive coup launched by a faction in the Turkish army, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) has permitted the country’s airlines to dispatch empty flights to Turkey for bringing back the stranded Iranian travelers.
The coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.
It began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait that links Europe and Asia in Istanbul.
Airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off in the first hours of the coup attempt.