Yemen’s Ansarullah: US Harassment of Iranian Airliner Breach of Intl. Accords
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement denounced the harassment of an Iranian passenger plane by American warplanes over Syria as a “flagrant violation of international agreements”.
In a statement on Saturday, Ansarullah condemned the “hostile” and “violent” behavior of US fighter jets close to Iran’s Beirut-bound passenger plane over the Syrian airspace, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.
It further said that only resistance can force arrogant powers to respect other nations and their territorial integrity.
The aggressive maneuvering by American jets constitutes a “flagrant violation of international law and agreement”, the statement read.
Two US fighter jets came close to the Mahan Air passenger plane in Syrian airspace on Thursday, causing the pilot to quickly change altitude to avoid collision.
A video posted on Friday by Iran’s IRIB news agency showed a jet from the window of a plane and blood on the face of a passenger – reportedly as a result from an injury sustained during the sudden altitude change.
The IRIB initially reported a single Israeli jet had come near the plane but later quoted the pilot as saying there were two jets which identified themselves as American.
The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them about keeping a safe distance and the jet pilots identified themselves as American, the IRIB reported.
The plane later landed in Beirut, safely evacuating its passengers, some of whom were injured. After refueling, it immediately took off and returned to Tehran’s Imam Khomeini without any harassment.