Fighter Jet
The Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran announced on Friday it will lodge a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) over “harassment” of its passenger plane by two U.S. fighter jets over the Syrian airspace on Thursday.
On Thursday evening, two U.S. fighter jets came close to an Iranian-Beirut-bound passenger plane over Syrian airspace, which forced the pilot of Iran’s Mahan Air to change altitude to avoid collision, according to Iran’s state TV.
In a statement, the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran urged the ICAO to immediately address the issue, which, it said, is “a clear violation of the international law and the aviation standards and regulations’’, Press TV reported.
The Iranian plane had to dive and make a quick landing at the Beirut airport after U.S. warplanes blocked its passage, it said.
The Mahan Air aircraft, with over 150 passengers on board, was later landed safely in the Lebanese capital.
But the incident caused the injury of several passengers, Iran’s state TV reported.
The plane flew back to Tehran after refuelling.
Iranian Vice-President for Legal Affairs, Laya Joneidi, said on Friday that the “harassment of the passenger plane in a third country is a blatant violation of aviation security and a breach of the freedom of the air for civil flights’’.
The U.S. government is responsible for the fighter jets’ dangerous manoeuvring and Iran can legally pursue the issue at the ICAO and at the International Court of Justice, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Press TV.
Also, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mohammad Eslami, described the U.S. jets’ move as an “act of terrorism”.
“Our passenger plane was moving at the international commercial flight route and corridor and the American fighter jets’ threatening move was unlawful and inhumane,’’ said Eslami.
“The ICAO is expected to issue a statement against this inhumane move by the United States,’’ the Iranian minister said.
Besides, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that Iran will “take necessary political and legal measures’’ over the incident.
The incident is the first of its kind in Syria but it adds to the tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have soared since 2018 when the U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the landmark Iranian nuclear.
Trump, thereafter, re-imposed unilateral sanctions against the energy and financial sectors of the Islamic republic. (Xinhua/NAN)
