A dead body has been found in the landing gear bay of an aircraft that flew from Tehran to Frankfurt Airport, German police said on Thursday.

German newspaper Bild reported that the Airbus aircraft, belonging to the German company Lufthansa, had taken off from Tehran early on Thursday morning.

Police said the ground crew found the body while carrying out maintenance work. German local broadcaster Hessenschau reported that the work had been going on for four hours before the body was found.

Police did not confirm the origin of the body, nor did they provide any details on the identity of the individual.

The German press agency DPA said that the corresponding flight planned for Friday morning had been canceled.

Germany has a large Iranian population, thousands of which took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday in solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has also announced plans to impose entry restrictions on Iranian nationals as a punitive measure against Tehran.