Iran slams US after warplane fly-by panics civilian aircraft

Iran on Friday dismissed a US explanation that a US jet was conducting a visual inspection when it “harassed” an Iranian civilian airliner, saying the plane was forced to rapidly change altitude to avoid collision, injuring and panicking passengers.
State TV video footage of the inside of the airliner shows a passenger lying immobile on the floor and another with a wounded nose.
“The harassment of a passenger plane on the territory of a third country (Syria) is a violation of aviation security and freedom of civilian aircraft,” Laya Joneydi, vice president for legal affairs, said. The Mahan Air plane was heading from Tehran to Beirut. The US army said an F-15 was conducting a visual inspection of the plane when it passed near its garrison in Syria. A spokesman said the jet was 1,000 metres from the plane.