AN US F-15 fighter jet came within yards of an Iranian passenger plane after a series of mysterious explosions in the country.
The first jet kept a safe distance from the airplane and a second jet was in the vicinity, but not close enough to make a visual inspection of the commercial airliner, a US defense official told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
Hours earlier it was reported that two fighter jets came close to an Iranian passenger plane over Syrian airspace, causing the pilot to change altitude quickly to avoid collision and injuring several passengers.
IRIB news agency initially said a single Israeli jet had come near the plane but later quoted the pilot as saying there were two jets that identified themselves as American.
The pilot of the passenger plane contacted the jet pilots to warn them to keep a safe distance and they identified themselves as American, the agency reported.
Video posted by the agency showed a single jet from the window of the plane and comments from a passenger who had blood on his face.
The Iranian plane, belonging to Mahan Air, was heading from Tehran to Beirut and landed safely in Beirut, an airport source told Reuters.
An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment and there was no immediate comment from the US military.
The incident is being investigated and Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the necessary legal and political action would be taken, according to the Foreign Ministry website.
This month numerous explosions have been reported in the country.
On June 11 two people died in the Tehran from an explosion at a factory.
Just days before a fire broke out at a ground level building at Iran’s underground Natanz facility, the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which the authorities said had caused significant damage.
Also that week, 19 people were killed in an explosion at a medical clinic in the north of Tehran, which an official said was caused by a gas leak.
On June 26, an explosion occurred east of Tehran near the Parchin military and weapons development base that authorities said was caused by a leak at a gas storage facility in an area outside the base.
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US F-15 fighter jet comes within YARDS of Iranian passenger plane after series of mystery explosions in the country
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