TEHRAN – The Syrian ambassador to Tehran has said that the harassment against the Iranian passenger plane in the Syrian sky by the United States was a terrorist act against the innocent civilians.

“Harassment against the Iranian passenger plane of Mahan airline by the United States’ fighter jets in Syria’s sky is a symbol of the United States’ terrorist actions against civilians, including women and children, and is also violation of law and international agreements on non-military flights,” Adnan Hassan Mahmoud said in a statement on Saturday. 

Mahmoud also said the aggressive action against the Iranian civilian flight was in line with the United States’ actions in supporting terrorism and looting the Syrian people’s wealth, insisting on the need that all foreign forces who are illegally in Syria leave the country.

He said the presence of occupation forces in Syria threatens “security and stability in the region”.

Two U.S. warplanes conducted dangerous and aggressive maneuvering closed to an Iranian airliner on Thursday, putting lives of tens of civilian passengers on board in danger.

Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations has said that the United States must be held accountable for threatening the Iranian passenger plane, noting presence of the U.S. forces in Syria is “an illegal occupation”.

“It is not a presence, it is an occupation according to international law,” IRNA quoted him as saying on Saturday.

NA/PA