A chartered aircraft carrying about 100 Americans from the US airbase at Bagram, Afghanistan, has landed safely in Dubai after being diverted to Iran because of issues with its flight plan, the US State Department said .

The Fly Dubai plane took off earlier from Bandar Abbas, Iran, after being rerouted there. A US official said the plane had failed to update its flight plan after leaving Bagram for Dubai several hours late.

When Iranian civil aviation officials identified the plane, they could not find it in their system because it was supposed to have flown through hours earlier, the official said.

Iranian officials first asked it to turn around and then to land at Bandar Abbas when told it did not have enough fuel to return to Afghanistan, the official said.

Contrary to some media reports, ‘No Iranian jets were scrambled in this situation’

In a statement saying the plane had landed in Dubai, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that contrary to some media reports, “No Iranian jets were scrambled in this situation.

“We appreciate the efforts of all parties to help passengers get safely to their destination,” she added.

Washington and Tehran have had an antagonistic relationship for decades. The US cut diplomatic ties with Iran in April 1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the US embassy in Tehran and took US citizens hostage. Fifty-two Americans were ultimately held for 444 days.

The two countries are now at odds over the Iranian nuclear programme, which Washington suspects is aimed at building a bomb but which Iran says is for strictly civilian purposes.