Iran's Zarif Slams US for Putting Lives of Intercepted Plane Passengers at Risk

The day before, reports emerged in Iranian media that Iran's Mahan Air passenger plane was forced to land, after trying to avoid a collision with two fighter jets while en route to Lebanon.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif slammed the US military on Friday via Twitter after a US F-15 fighter jet intercepted an Iranian passenger plane, allegedly jeopardizing the safety of its passengers.

U.S. illegally occupies territory of another State and then harasses a scheduled civil airliner—endangering innocent civilian passengers—ostensibly to protect its occupation forces.

Audacity to compound lawlessness upon lawlessness

These outlaws must be stopped before disaster.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 24, 2020

Initial reports suggested that the jets belonged to the Israeli Air Force, but Iranian media later confirmed that they were US fighters.

Commenting on the incident, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that "a US F-15 fighter had intercepted the passenger plane keeping a safe distance of some 1,000 meters (over 3,280 feet) in line with international standards to ensure the safety of US-led coalition bases in Syria."

Meanwhile, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization has submitted an official complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization, expressing Tehran’s protest against the US actions, and saying it would take legal measures against the US, according to Eslami.