‘Flagrant violation’: Iran protests US jet approach at UN

Tehran says passengers on an Iranian airline injured after pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a US jet.

Airbus A340 airplane of Mahan Air is seen at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas
Iranian news agency IRNA said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, before the aircraft landed safely in the Lebanese capital [Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]

Iran has protested the “flagrant violation” of international law to the United Nations after it said United States fighter jets sparked panic on an Iranian passenger plane over Syria.

Iran’s state-run television broadcast footage of Thursday’s incident with passengers screaming as the pilot of a Mahan Air plane on a flight from Tehran to Beirut changed altitude to avoid collision with a US fighter jet.

A passenger with blood running down his forehead and another who had fallen to the floor were seen in the video, and one jet could be seen through the window in the video.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA said a protest letter would be submitted to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and secretary-general over “the threat posed to the Mahan Air passenger plane”.

On Friday, Iran’s foreign ministry said protest had been lodged with the International Civil Aviation Organization – a UN agency – and the Swiss embassy in Tehran that handles US interests in Iran since ties were cut in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“If anything happens to the aircraft on its return flight, Iran will hold the United States responsible,” foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told IRNA.

The US military said an “F-15 on a routine air mission … conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres (yards)”.

Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the “visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at Tanf garrison”.

“Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft,” Urban added.

US CENTCOM, which covers the whole of the wider Middle East, insisted it was a “professional intercept … conducted in accordance with international standards”.

The IRNA said the Mahan Air pilot made contact on the radio with two US fighter planes, before the aircraft landed safely in the Lebanese capital.

Iranian television called the incident “provocative and dangerous”.

Data from the flight recorded by website FlightRadar24.com showed the airliner climbed from 34,000 feet to 34,600 feet in under two minutes around the time of the incident, then dropped back down to 34,000 feet within a minute.

The incident comes amid tensions between Tehran and Washington, with ties deteriorating since 2018 when US President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed sanctions that have battered Iran’s economy.

Source: News Agencies