Iranian, Russian FMs Confer on Downing of Su-24 Jet by Turkey
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov exchanged views about a recent move by Turkey to shoot down a Russian fighter jet, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said.
The issue was discussed by the two ministers during a telephone conversation on Tuesday evening, Jaberi Ansari said.
The spokesman expressed deep concern over the downing of the Russian warplane and emphasized that such incidents will aggravate the Syrian crisis and convey “a wrong message” to terrorist groups.
“At the current juncture, any move that leads to the increase of tensions and complication of situation will send a wrong signal to terrorists,” the foreign ministry spokesman said.
Turkish fighter jets shot down the Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday. Turkey claims the incident happened after repeated warnings over air space violations, but Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space.
It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s and Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.
A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident".
Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", it said.