The aircraft, which had been en route from Tehran, continued on to Beirut as scheduled after the incident.
Tehran, Iran:
Two US jets flew dangerously near an Iranian passenger aircraft over war-torn Syria, forcing the pilot to take emergency motion and sparking panic on board, Iranian authorities mentioned Friday.
The US navy mentioned of Thursday’s incident that an “F-15 on a routine air mission… carried out a normal visible inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a protected distance of roughly 1,000 metres (yards)”.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a press release after Iranian state tv aired novice footage of passengers on board screaming because the Mahan Air jetliner appeared to vary course out of the blue.
One other video apparently shot on a telephone appeared to point out at the least two fighter jets flying beside the aircraft.
In an preliminary report accompanying the footage, the state broadcaster mentioned the navy plane had been believed to be Israeli.
“After this harmful motion by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the business aircraft rapidly lowered the altitude of the flight to keep away from colliding with the Israeli fighter, injuring a number of passengers on board,” it mentioned.
Iran’s official IRNA information company mentioned the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, and that the plane later landed safely within the Lebanese capital.
CENTCOM, which covers the entire of the broader Center East, insisted it was a “skilled intercept… carried out in accordance with worldwide requirements”.
“As soon as the F-15 pilot recognized the plane as a Mahan Air passenger aircraft, the F-15 safely opened distance from the plane,” it mentioned.
Iranian tv referred to as the incident “provocative and harmful.”
International ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi mentioned that Iran had been in contact with each the United Nations and the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has dealt with US pursuits in Iran since relations had been severed within the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979.
“If something occurs to the plane on its return flight, Iran will maintain america accountable,” Mousavi informed IRNA.
Syrian state media mentioned that “planes believed to belong to the US-led coalition intercepted” the Iranian airliner over the Al-Tanf district on the border with Jordan and Iraq, forcing the captain to make “a pointy drop”.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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