Iranian TV showed a beaming Berdymukhamedov being slapped on the back by a magnanimous Ahmadinejad as the small plane was unwrapped from a tarp with the colors of the Iranian flag. The gift was seen as an exchange for Turkmenistan’s gift to Iran last week of 1,000 tons of wheat, lenziran.com reported.
The question is whether the Turkmen leader will ever actually fly around in this gift from his neighbor — light sports aircraft are not regarded as particularly safe — but maybe that’s because they’re associated with wealthy 70-year-old golfers as pilots.