Tehran calls on UN to act after F-15s intercepted civilian flight
It is obvious that the act by the US fighter jets is a flagrant violation of aviation security and freedom of civil aviation MAJID TAKHT RAVANCHI Iranian ambassador to the UN
Iran is urging the UN to hold Washington accountable for the interception of an Iranian passenger plane by two fighter jets over Syria last month.
In identical letters sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, Iran expressed “its strongest objections against this violation of international law and will pursue the issue through relevant international bodies”.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran’s UN ambassador, said a Mahan Air Airbus A310 on its way from Tehran to Beirut on July 23 “was aggressively and unexpectedly intercepted” by two US F-15 warplanes in internationally specified air corridors of Syrian airspace.
“In reaction to the offensive and hazardous manoeuvrings of the United States fighter jets and in order to save the civil aircraft and passengers’ lives, the airliner had to change altitude abruptly, causing injuries to the passengers onboard,” the ambassador said.
At the time of the incident, Capt Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman, said the pilot of an American F-15 “conducted a standard visual inspection” of the Iranian plane “at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 metres from the airliner”.
He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of US coalition troops in Al Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area.
He said once the Mahan Air flight was identified as a passenger plane, “the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft”.
The Iranian ambassador said that in line with provisions of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Iran’s civil aviation body contacted the Syrian authorities and called for “a prompt and accurate investigation of the incident”.
He said the Iranian authorities also launched their own investigation after the Mahan Air plan returned from Beirut.
The results of both investigations will be released “after the revision and finalisation of the collected data and information” by both teams, Mr Takht Ravanchi said.
“It is obvious that the act by the United States fighter jets is a flagrant violation of the aviation security and freedom of civil aviation reflected in the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and its relevant annexes, as well as an infringement of the 1971 Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation,” he said.
“It is incumbent upon the United Nations to reject such an unlawful and yet adventuristic act and hold the United States accountable for this irresponsible behaviour,” Mr Takht Ravanchi said.