UN Underlines Respect for Safety of Civilian Flights

EghtesadOnline: The United Nations stressed that all countries must respect the safety of civilian flights, referring to the recent harassment of an Iranian passenger plane by American fighter jets.

News ID: ۷۵۰۵۳۷

26 July 2020

“As a matter of principle, the safety of civilian air travel should be respected by all,” UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, when asked about the incident during a press briefing on Friday, according to the website of the world body.

On Thursday night, US warplanes operating in Syria conducted aggressive maneuvers dangerously close to an Iranian Mahan Air plane over Syria’s al-Tanf region.

Mahan Air’s Flight 1152 had taken off from Tehran and was en route to the Lebanese capital Beirut when the incident happened.

Dujarric stressed that the world body had “no specific information on that incident” yet, adding that what he said about the safety of civilian air travel was “a principled position”.

“I don’t have any [information], at this point; we don’t have any specific information on this incident,” Dujarric explained.

“I checked with my colleagues in Montreal at ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization]. They have nothing.  They have not received anything as of yet.”

Officials in Tehran have denounced the hostile move and the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran has said it would pursue the matter and file a complaint with ICAO.