Iran condemns US jet fly-by of airliner as terrorism by 'outlaws'
Iran said on Friday a good US fighter jet "harassed" an Iranian civilian airliner within an act of terrorism which injured and panicked passengers, dismissing a US account that the jet was merely conducting a good visual inspection.
State TV video footage of the within of the Iranian airliner displays a passenger lying immobile of the floor and another with a good wounded nose and forehead, presenting his bloodied face mask to the camera. Several passengers, some experienced screaming and shouting, had been harmed in the flight manoeuvre over Syria, relating to Iranian media, but the US military said its F-15 was at a safe distance.
Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami was quoted by the semi-official ISNA news agency about Friday as saying 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 furnished so far (by the united states military) are unjustified and unconvincing," LayaJoneydi, vice president for legal affairs, was quoted as expressing by Iranian media.
"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 Mohammad JavadZarif accused america of risking a disaster.
"US ... harasses a scheduled civil airliner - endangering innocent civilian passengers - ostensibly to protect its occupation forces," he stated on Twitter. "These outlaws should be stopped before disaster."
The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut at that time. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the come across would be investigated.
Video footage displays oxygen masks fallen from the overhead roof panels. One jet is 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 unidentified injured passenger told point out TV.
"It had been a jet. Almost thus near our plane."
One of the passengers was first lying on to the floor by the toilets and another passenger set a good cushion under his brain as being cabin crew tended to others.
THE UNITED STATES military's Central Command, which oversees American troops in your community, said an F-15 aircraft was conducting a visual inspection of the Iranian plane when it passed close to the Tanf garrison in Syria, residence to US forces.
Captain Bill Urban, the senior Central Command spokesman, said the jet was 1,000 metres (3,280 feet) from the airliner.
