HELICOPTER CARRYING AHMADINEJAD FAILS TO LAND
PRESS TV, Iran
March 19 2007
The helicopter carrying Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to
Armenia for the inauguration of a gas pipeline failed to land and
returned to the Iranian border city of Marand.
President Ahmadinejad was en route to neighboring Armenia to formally
open the first stretch of a natural gas pipeline along with the
Armenian president, Robert Kocharyan, when his helicopter failed to
land due to bad weather, Fars News Agency reported.
Reports indicate that the president and his entourage returned to
the Iranian city of Marand in the north-western province of East
Azarbaijan.
The president was accompanied by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Energy
Minister and Oil Minister. The group is now set to travel by land
to Armenia to inaugurate the pipeline, which will eventually move
Iranian gas into Armenia.
The 110 kilometer pipeline runs from the north-western city of Tabriz
to the Armenian border. Construction of the first 40 kilometer-long
section of the pipeline began in November 2004.
When complete, some 10 million cubic meters of Iranian gas will be
delivered to Armenia through the pipeline each day. According to an
agreement reached between the two sides, the pipeline will transfer
some 36 billion cubic meters of Iranian gas to Armenia over the next
20 years.