The Imam Khomeini International Airport was shut down May 8, 2004, following
"security concerns" after the landing of one Emirates[?] aircraft, the first
and last to land in the new facility.

*************************************************
There were unconfirmed reports that another plane from North Korea might
have been carrying fissile material, which was spilled on the tarmac,
forcing the airport shut.
*************************************************

[The airport had to be closed for a full year!]

http://www.wpherald.com/Middle_East/...0428-115525-97
76r
__________________________________________________ ___________

Iranian Propaganda Timeline

Apr 20, 2004

Iran has postponed until May 8 plans to start shifting all its international
flights and most domestic ones, to and from Tehran, to Imam Khomeini
International Airport, the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran announced
yesterday.

The organization ascribed the delay to "unexpected problems involving fuel
prices and supply". It said that the fuel prices have tripled compared to
the preceding year while the CAO and the National Iranian Oil Company (
NIOC ) have yet to sign a deal.

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publ...cle_2092.shtml

[Fuel prices & supply? In Iran? - LOL]
__________________________________________________ ___________

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, one of the country's most powerful
institutions, "stormed" the new airport on the day it opened in May 2004 to
protest the involvement of Turkish-Austrian consortium Tepe-Akfen-Vie, TAV.

....the airport managed to accommodate ONLY ONE FLIGHT before it was shut
down.

http://www.radiofarda.com/en_article...-8adf-72dcddde
cd77.html
__________________________________________________ ___________

June 17, 2004

The agency was looking at intelligence that Iran was razing parts of a
restricted area next to a military complex in a Tehran suburb, the diplomats
said on condition of anonymity.

Satellite photos showed that several buildings had been destroyed and
topsoil had been removed at Lavizan Shiyan, one diplomat said.

[The new RadioActive airport is also located in a south suburb of Tehran]

*************************************************
The IAEA has found traces of enriched uranium, including weapons-grade
samples, at several sites in Iran. Tehran says those minute finds were not
produced domestically but rather were inadvertently imported when it made
purchases through the nuclear black market...
*************************************************

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,122931,00.html
__________________________________________________ ___________

Jan 14, 2005

The airport was closed down shortly after coming into operation and former
minister of roads and transportation Ahmad Khorram lost his job within weeks
merely due to the pro-reform government's refusal to cancel a lucrative
agreement with a Turkish firm, TAV, which was in charge of handling the
airport affairs.

[One year to takeover airport operations? - LOL]

http://www.iran-daily.com/1383/2190/...nomy.htm#38112
__________________________________________________ ___________

Regarding the Turkish-Austrian consortium - TAV

"Iranian authorities have also encouraged Turkish businessmen to invest in
Iran. THEREFORE, we have a contradiction now."

[Contradiction of lies, spin & satellite photos! - LOL]

http://www.hadeseh.com/english/archives/002426.php
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publ...cle_2263.shtml
__________________________________________________ ___________

The first airplane [from N.Korea] landed at the airport in coordination with
the Armed Forces, but, coming home from Dubai of national flag carrier, Iran
Air, was the beginning of the controversy, Nariman explained. [Iran Air is
owned by the Islamic Revolution Guards]

"Apparently, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps ( IRGC ) blamed lack of
security for its objection to operation of the airport. So, differences emer
ged between the Ministry of Roads and Transport and the Armed Forces."

"The dispute caused wandering of the airplane bound to land at Imam Khomeini
airport, so, Iran Air pilot steered the plane to Isfahan airport on his own
initiative," Nariman said.

"We have heard that several vehicles had been placed on the runway of the
airport to prevent Iran Air passenger plane from landing at Imam Khomeini
Airport and several jet fighters flew in the sky to escort the passenger
plane out of the area. This news has not been confirmed yet," he said.

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/may/1063.html
__________________________________________________ ___________

Perilous State of Iran’s Fleet of Aircraft

From 2002 to 2003 three Soviet-made planes crashed in Iran, killing more
than 400.

Last month, a Boeing and an Airbus both had to make emergency landings at
Iranian airports on the same day.
....
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13290
__________________________________________________ ___________

IRAN NUCLEAR SPILL COVER-UP FEARED

Western intelligence officials believe Iran's Revolutionary Guards tried to
cover up a nuclear accident triggered when weapons-grade uranium was being
shipped from North Korea.

The accident allegedly caused Tehran's new international airport to be
sealed off by Revolutionary Guard commanders within hours of its official
opening on May 9.

The first scheduled commercial landing at the airport - an Iran Air civilian
flight from Dubai - was intercepted by two Iranian air force jets and
diverted to Isfahan, about 300 kilometers away, even though it was low on
fuel.

At the same time, trucks blocked the runway to prevent other landings.

Seven weeks later, the showpiece airport, named after Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution, is still closed.

All commercial flights have to use the capital's aging Mehrabad complex.

At the time of the incident, Revolutionary Guard commanders claimed that
Khomeini airport had been closed because of "security problems".

But Iranian aviation officials believe that Tehran wanted to cover up
evidence of the previously unreported nuclear accident in 2002, linked to
Iran's secret program to build an atom bomb.

Although the airport, 75 kilometers south of Tehran, was not ready for
commercial traffic until this spring, military flights have used it for at
least two years.

In December 2002, according to officials with access to the airport, a North
Korean cargo jet delivering nuclear technology, including some weapons-grade
uranium, was being unloaded at night under military supervision.

A container slipped and cracked on the tarmac, and everyone in the area was
taken away for thorough medical examinations.

Crews from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, wearing protective suits,
were brought in to clean up the spillage.

Once the area was decontaminated, Revolutionary Guards allowed airport
construction to resume, confident that they had concealed the incident from
the outside world.

But things changed after inspectors working for the UN-backed International
Atomic Energy Agency uncovered evidence in June 2003 that Iran had secretly
enriched uranium to weapons grade at the Kalaye electric centrifuge plant,
on the outskirts of Tehran.

Iran had previously denied having the necessary technology.

The Kalaye revelations embarrassed Revolutionary Guards' commanders, who are
responsible for protecting Iran's secret nuclear facilities.

The findings prompted the agency to intensify pressure on Tehran for a full
disclosure on the extent of Iran's nuclear program, which Iranian officials
continue to insist is being developed for purely peaceful purposes.

Iranian aviation officials believe that the Revolutionary Guards ordered
Khomeini International Airport closed in case the agency inspectors detected
deposits of enriched uranium.

The airport will remain closed until Russian nuclear experts can examine the
site of the incident and make sure that no traces of the illegal shipment
remain.

A senior Western intelligence official said: "We are aware of the concerns
being expressed by Iranian aviation experts, and are trying to investigate
them.

"The problem is that the Revolutionary Guards will not allow access to the
airport to any foreign nationals, including UN inspectors."

Earlier this month the IAEA rebuked Iran over its failure to give a full
account of its atomic program, as suspicions mounted that Iran was still
trying to build nuclear weapons.

Last week, American intelligence officials provided satellite evidence that
they claimed showed a nuclear site at Lavizan Shiyan in Tehran.

They said it had been razed to remove evidence of research that had been
done there.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...om.au/articles
/2004/06/27/1088274624210.html%3Foneclick%3Dtrue+Iran+airport& hl=en&lr=lang_
en&target=nw

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...l?oneclick=tru
e
__________________________________________________ ___________

Apr 30, 2005

The Imam Khomeini International Airport, built to serve the capital Tehran,
received a first commercial flight from Dubai almost exactly a year after
its inauguration was aborted when the military closed it down because of
concern over security.

Britain and Canada advised travelers to avoid the new airport. "We are aware
of reports that the runway at the new Imam Khomeini International Airport in
Tehran may not yet be suitable for use," the British Foreign Office said in
a travel advisory.

"We are in contact with the Iranian authorities about this. Until the
situation has been clarified, we advise British travelers to travel by
flights using the existing airport."

The Canadian government issued a virtually identical warning. It was not
immediately clear whether any other countries were giving the same advice.

Iran said the runway had been approved by international experts.

"I don't know the reason behind this advice," said Reza Jafarzadeh,
spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization.

"The runway is ready and this has been approved by ICAO ( International
Civil Aviation Organization ) , otherwise the organization wouldn't have
issued permits for today's flights," he told Reuters.

[The ICAO are not nuclear experts! The IAEA are no longer welcomed in
Iran!]

http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publ...cle_6595.shtml

__________________________________________________ ___________

TEHRAN, Iran ( Reuters ) -- Hardline Iranian politicians called on the
government on Sunday to sever all diplomatic ties with Britain in a rapidly
escalating row over the opening of a new airport serving Tehran.

Britain and Canada issued warnings on Friday to travelers to avoid using the
Imam Khomeini International Airport, which opened on Saturday, due to
concerns the runway may be unsafe.

Hardline politicians ignored the dispute over safety and focused their ire
on an alleged request by London that the name of the airport, dedicated to
the founding father of the 1979 Islamic revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, be changed.

"If Britain does not apologize to Iran we will break all ties with that
country and expel Britain's ambassador," said Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, a
member of parliament's presiding board.

"If true, we should ... not allow any British nationals to enter our country
and we should naturally cut economic ties with that country," agreed Hossein
Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper.

The British embassy in Tehran rejected the accusation as "nonsense".

"We have never requested that the name of the airport be changed," said
Charge d'Affaires Matthew Gould. "Our only consideration is for the safety
of the runway."

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/05/01/iran.airport/
__________________________________________________ ___________

Iran's foreign ministry described the two countries' travel advisories as
"very dangerous". [???]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4510597.stm
__________________________________________________ ___________
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