Security agents foil hijacking of Iranian airliner

Aircraft security officers have foiled an attempt to hijack an Iranian airliner on a domestic flight, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported today.

The would-be hijacker approached the crew as the plane was flying from Kerman in south-eastern Iran to the capital, Tehran yesterday, and threatened to explode two home-made bombs tied under his alcohol-soaked clothes, Irna reported.

He threatened to set himself ablaze with a lighter if he was prevented from entering the cockpit, the agency quoted aviation security officials of the Revolutionary Guards as saying. The plane had 138 people aboard, Irna said.

Security officers aboard the flight overpowered the man and arrested him, Irna reported.

Irna quoted the head of the Iranian airports security office, Brig Hossein Khaleqi, as saying the hijacker was outsmarted by flight guards who calmed him mentally before arresting him.

‘‘In preliminary investigation, the hijacker has cited economic problems as his motive for the hijacking, but more probes are under way,’’ Khaleqi added.

The plane was a Russian-made Tupolev Tu-145.