صراط عشق صراط عشق
U.S. F-15 Harasses Iran’s Civilian Airliner in Syria
TEHRAN (Dispatches) — Iran said on Friday a U.S. fighter jet “harassed” an Iranian civilian airliner in an act of terrorism which injured and panicked passengers, dismissing a U.S. account that the jet was merely conducting a visual inspection.
A video footage of the inside of the Iranian airliner showed a passenger lying immobile of the floor and another with a wounded nose and forehead, presenting his bloodied face mask to the camera.
Several passengers, some seen screaming and shouting, were injured in the flight maneuver over Syria, but the U.S. military claimed its F-15 was at a safe distance.
Minister of Roads and Urban Development Muhammad Eslami said Iran had lodged a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization, describing Thursday’s incident as a “terrorist act, one of aggression”.
“The explanations provided so far (by the U.S. military) are unjustified and unconvincing,” Laya Joneydi, vice president for legal affairs, said. “The harassment of a passenger plane on the territory of a third country is a clear violation of aviation security and freedom of civilian aircraft.”
Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said the United States risked a disaster.
“U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airliner – endangering innocent civilian passengers-ostensibly to protect its occupation forces,” he tweeted. “These outlaws must be stopped before disaster.”
The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut at the time. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the encounter would be investigated.
Video footage shows oxygen masks fallen from the overhead roof panels. One jet can be seen through a seat window flying some distance away in a clear blue sky.
“I saw a black plane approaching us, and then we lost our balance,” one injured passenger told national TV. “It was a jet. Almost so near our plane.”
One of the passengers was lying on the floor by the toilets and another passenger put a cushion under his head as cabin crew tended to others.
The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said an F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian plane when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria, home to U.S. forces.
Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the jet was 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner.
According to the witnesses, however, the U.S. fighter jet came within a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision and the sharp maneuver caused injuries among some of the passengers.
Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 meters (2,000 feet) to ensure they don’t hit each other, though planes traveling that close can encounter wake turbulence.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the incident is under investigation, adding”due political and legal measures will be taken upon completion of the information at hand”.
Mousavi said a message of warning had been handed over to the Swiss embassy in Tehran that takes care of U.S. interests in Iran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave any hostile move against the Iranian nation unanswered and will react decisively and appropriately to any irrational move at the right time,” he said.
Tehran, Mousavi said, “will not allow the United States to mock all international laws with such bullying”.
The spokesman dismissed as “ridiculous” the U.S. military’s Central Command’s claim that the warplane was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian airliner.
“The presence of American forces in Syria is illegal, and the air missions of their jet fighters are also illegal. More importantly, no one has allowed the United States to inspect passenger planes over the skies with its military jets. Such an act is both illegal and dangerous, playing with the lives of innocent people, especially since, contrary to the claims made, the safe distance has not been observed at all.”
The spokesman warned against any new adventurism by the U.S. or the occupying regime of Israel in the region, saying “stability and security in the West Asian region should not be used as a toy in the U.S. election campaign”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi told UN chief Antonio Guteres that the Islamic Republic would be holding the United States “responsible”.
The air piracy comes in the wake of other U.S. provocations and terrorist acts which have escalated after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Tehran over two years ago.
In the time since, there have been several incidents, including the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top commander General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.
In 1988, the American guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people. Washington said it was an accident and then awarded the captain of the warship “for his service as a commander”.
A video footage of the inside of the Iranian airliner showed a passenger lying immobile of the floor and another with a wounded nose and forehead, presenting his bloodied face mask to the camera.
Several passengers, some seen screaming and shouting, were injured in the flight maneuver over Syria, but the U.S. military claimed its F-15 was at a safe distance.
Minister of Roads and Urban Development Muhammad Eslami said Iran had lodged a formal complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization, describing Thursday’s incident as a “terrorist act, one of aggression”.
“The explanations provided so far (by the U.S. military) are unjustified and unconvincing,” Laya Joneydi, vice president for legal affairs, said. “The harassment of a passenger plane on the territory of a third country is a clear violation of aviation security and freedom of civilian aircraft.”
Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said the United States risked a disaster.
“U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airliner – endangering innocent civilian passengers-ostensibly to protect its occupation forces,” he tweeted. “These outlaws must be stopped before disaster.”
The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut at the time. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the encounter would be investigated.
Video footage shows oxygen masks fallen from the overhead roof panels. One jet can be seen through a seat window flying some distance away in a clear blue sky.
“I saw a black plane approaching us, and then we lost our balance,” one injured passenger told national TV. “It was a jet. Almost so near our plane.”
One of the passengers was lying on the floor by the toilets and another passenger put a cushion under his head as cabin crew tended to others.
The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees American troops in the region, said an F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian plane when it passed near the Tanf garrison in Syria, home to U.S. forces.
Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the jet was 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner.
According to the witnesses, however, the U.S. fighter jet came within a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision and the sharp maneuver caused injuries among some of the passengers.
Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 meters (2,000 feet) to ensure they don’t hit each other, though planes traveling that close can encounter wake turbulence.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the incident is under investigation, adding”due political and legal measures will be taken upon completion of the information at hand”.
Mousavi said a message of warning had been handed over to the Swiss embassy in Tehran that takes care of U.S. interests in Iran.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave any hostile move against the Iranian nation unanswered and will react decisively and appropriately to any irrational move at the right time,” he said.
Tehran, Mousavi said, “will not allow the United States to mock all international laws with such bullying”.
The spokesman dismissed as “ridiculous” the U.S. military’s Central Command’s claim that the warplane was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian airliner.
“The presence of American forces in Syria is illegal, and the air missions of their jet fighters are also illegal. More importantly, no one has allowed the United States to inspect passenger planes over the skies with its military jets. Such an act is both illegal and dangerous, playing with the lives of innocent people, especially since, contrary to the claims made, the safe distance has not been observed at all.”
The spokesman warned against any new adventurism by the U.S. or the occupying regime of Israel in the region, saying “stability and security in the West Asian region should not be used as a toy in the U.S. election campaign”.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi told UN chief Antonio Guteres that the Islamic Republic would be holding the United States “responsible”.
The air piracy comes in the wake of other U.S. provocations and terrorist acts which have escalated after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Tehran over two years ago.
In the time since, there have been several incidents, including the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top commander General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.
In 1988, the American guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner, killing 290 people. Washington said it was an accident and then awarded the captain of the warship “for his service as a commander”.
