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The incident sparked the latest showdown between Tehran and Washington on Thursday since U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2018 unilateral decision to withdraw from the agreement on the Shiite nation’s nuclear program and renew painful penalties against Iran.
Iranian state television channel IRIB showed amateur footage of a plane showing passengers screaming from a Mahan Air plane flying from Tehran to Beirut after a sudden change of course.
This video shows a passenger with his forehead folded and another collapsed on the floor. One of the American planes could be seen through the window of the plane.
Another video, apparently filmed on the phone, shows at least two fighters flying near the plane.
The state news agency IRNA has indicated that a letter of protest will be sent to the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General about “the threat posed by the Mahan Air passenger plane.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry also announced that complaints would be filed with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, representing American interests in the Shiite Republic, following the breakdown of diplomatic relations between States. United and Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
“If something happens to the plane on the return flight, Iran will hold the United States accountable,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told IRNA.
The US military said the F-15 fighter had performed a standard visual inspection of the Mahan Air passenger jet at a safe distance of about 1,000 meters during a normal air mission.
The US headquarters (CENTCOM) made the announcement after Iranian state television reported on the panic over the ocean liner Mahan Air.
“Professional acquisition”
In the initial report, the state broadcaster stated that the military planes probably belonged to Israel.
“After the dangerous actions of this Israeli fighter jet, the pilot of a commercial jet abruptly lowered the altitude of the flight to avoid a collision … [todėl] several passengers were injured inside, ”said the IRIB report.
IRNA said a Mahan Air pilot was in radio contact with two American fighter jets and then safely landed in the Lebanese capital.
CENTCOM, which is responsible for the United States’ military operations in the Middle East, said the “professional takeover was conducted in accordance with international standards.”
“When the F-15 pilot identified the plane as a Mahan Air passenger jet, the F-15 withdrew at a safe distance from the plane,” central personnel reported.
At the time, Iranian television described the incident as “provocative and dangerous”.
A Lebanese security source said the Iranian plane landed safely at Beirut International Airport but that it had “four slightly injured passengers.”
Syrian television and the official SANA news agency, citing civil aviation sources, said that “aircraft believed to belong to a coalition led by the United States took control of an Iranian civil aircraft in Syrian airspace in the region. de Tanafo, forcing the captain to abruptly reduce the altitude, which caused minor injuries to the passengers. “
The coalition is using the Tanaf base to fight the jihadist movement of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. At the time, Iran had been supporting the Damascus regime during the nine-year civil war in Syria.
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