Iran accused Israel on Thursday evening of attempting to intercept an Iranian airliner over Syria from Tehran to Beirut. Iranian public television showed video of screaming passengers as a plane from Iranian company Mahan Air appeared to attempt to escape at least two fighter jets.
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"While the (Iranian) plane was in the sky over Syria, the Zionist regime's fighter plane approached the Mahan Airlines plane , " according to state television. "Following this dangerous action by the Israeli fighter, the pilot of the commercial aircraft quickly reduced the altitude of the flight to avoid colliding with the Israeli fighter, (as a consequence) injuring several passengers on board."
A Lebanese security source gave AFP in Beirut a similar version of the incident. “An Iranian plane that was intercepted in Syrian airspace landed at Beirut airport. There are four minor injuries among the passengers, ” the source said.