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Iran temporarily denied Chancellor Angela Merkel's plane overflight rights during her flight to India. The plane had to circle over Turkey for two hours before being given permission to enter Iranian airspace. The incident could have diplomatic consequences.

For German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it should have been a routine trip abroad. But her flight to India was disturbed by a diplomatic incident that could further sour relations between Berlin and Tehran.

In the early hours of Tuesday, Iran denied Merkel's government aircraft overflight rights at short notice. The chancellor's plane, which had a large delegation on board, had to circle over Turkey for two hours. It was finally allowed to pass through Iranian airspace following a one-hour negotiation with Tehran which was mediated by Turkey and involved the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

"There has never been an incident like this," said German government spokesman Steffen Seibert. Berlin would now consider whether it would lodge a diplomatic protest, he said.

Merkel, who was traveling to India for an official visit, arrived in New Dehli more than two hours late on Tuesday morning as a result of the delay. It was the inaugural flight of the new government plane "Konrad Adenauer," an Airbus A340-300.

A second aircraft carrying several members of Merkel's cabinet, including Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière and Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, was able to cross Iranian airspace without any problems. It had left Berlin before Merkel's plane.

The reason for the denial of overflight rights was initially unclear. Before the plane left Berlin on Monday evening, it had been given permission to enter Iranian airspace. A Reuters journalist who was part of Merkel's delegation reported that the flyover rights were withdrawn shortly before the aircraft reached Iranian airspace. The German delegation said that "coordination problems" were to blame.