iOS "A connection failure occurred" HTTPClient error

Application type: mobile Titanium SDK: 3.1.2.GA Platform & version: iOS 6.1 Device: iOS simulator and device Host Operating System: OSX 10.8.4

i have been debugging an HTTPClient problem on iOS for over a day now but with no luck. i have HTTPClient call that returns a json string from a java servlet. when executed, the request reaches the server normally but when printing the data to the response output stream i get "A connection failure occurred" error. its like a one way communication. the returned json string is valid and i even tried to use "text/plain" as a response header Content-Type but still with no luck. All works well on android. any ideas what might be the problem???

Client:

var isLoggedInXhr = Titanium.Network.createHTTPClient({
        //enableKeepAlive : true,
        //timeout : 60000
    });
    isLoggedInXhr.onload = function() {
        var jsonObj = JSON.parse(this.responseText);
        if (!jsonObj.error) {
            if (jsonObj.isUserAuthenticated) {
                var Navigator = require('ui/common/Navigator');
                var navInst = Navigator.getInstance();
                navInst.setLoggedIn(true);
                navInst.init();
            } else {
                var Navigator = require('ui/common/Navigator');
                var navInst = Navigator.getInstance();
                navInst.setLoggedIn(false);
                navInst.init();
            }
        }
        //alert(this.responseText);
    };
    isLoggedInXhr.onerror = function(e) {
        alert(e.error);
    };
    Ti.API.info(Ti.App.Properties.getString('remoteServlet'));
 
    isLoggedInXhr.open("POST", Ti.App.Properties.getString('remoteServlet'));
    isLoggedInXhr = Cookies.setupHttpClient(isLoggedInXhr);
    isLoggedInXhr.send({
        "action" : "getCurrentLoggedInUser"
    });

Cookies.setupHttpClient = function(client) {
    if (Utils.isAndriod) {
        var header = "language=" + language + "; countryCode=" + countryCode + "; countryId=" + countryId;
        if (sessionId != null)
            header += "; JSESSIONID=" + sessionId;
        client.setRequestHeader("Cookie", header);
    } else {
        client.setRequestHeader("Cookie", "language=" + language);
        client.setRequestHeader("Cookie", "countryCode=" + countryCode);
        client.setRequestHeader("Cookie", "countryId=" + countryId);
        if (sessionId != null)
            client.setRequestHeader("Cookie", "JSESSIONID=" + sessionId);
    }
    return client;
};

Server (servlet):

public void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
            throws ServletException, IOException {
 
        String json = "";
        String action = request.getParameter("action");
 
        if (action != null) {
            if (action.equals("getCurrentLoggedInUser")) {
                json = getCurrentLoggedInUser();
            }
        }
 
        response.setContentType("application/json");
        response.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
        response.setCharacterEncoding("UTF-8");
 
        ServletOutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
        out.print(json);
        out.flush();
        out.close();
    }