JERUSALEM — In a bizarre Middle Eastern hijacking, a disgruntled flight attendant commandeered an Iranian aircraft carrying more than 170 passengers Tuesday. The jet landed at an Israeli air force base as it was about to run out of fuel. No one was injured in the hijacking, which began during takeoff from Tehran. The armed steward, an unidentified Iranian in his 30s, surrendered about an hour after arriving at Ovda air base in the Negev desert of southern Israel, telling Israeli officials he had grown “tired of life in Iran.” He first said he wanted asylum in the United States, but later asked to stay in Israel.
