Swiss media: Geneva airport refuses to refuel Iranian plane
US denies ‘Die Welt’ report that Tehran building missile base in Venezuela.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENTgeneva 521(photo credit: Ronen Shnidman)
BERLIN – The Swiss daily NZZ has reported that the international airport in Geneva is refusing to refuel Iran Air flights.Anton Kohler, a spokesman for the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), which is responsible for aviation development and the supervision of civil aviation activities in Switzerland, told the Swiss wire service SDA that “at this time aircraft from Iran Air will no longer be refueled at Geneva's airport.”RELATED:'Die Welt': Iran building rocket bases in VenezuelaKohler declined to comment on whether the move was connected with sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and violation of UN sanctions. He said Swiss authorities were seeking a “pragmatic solution” and that Iran Air could refuel in other countries, such as Serbia, until a remedy was found.Airports in Holland and Vienna have already refused to provide fuel to Iran Air planes.Meanwhile, the US has dismissed the accuracy of a report in the German daily Die Welt that said Iran was planning to build a missile base in Venezuela and was gearing up to begin construction.“We have no evidence to support this claim and therefore no reason to believe the assertions made in the article are credible,” the State Department said in connection with the report.CNN also quoted Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro, who termed the allegations an “extravagant lie.”Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the news network that Israel had not verified the allegations, but he described the report as “very serious.”“It would be a military intervention in a Latin country, a development without precedent," he said.
