Iran’s Judiciary has said that passengers who were harassed on an airliner by an American fighter jet on Thursday while flying over Syria could sue the U.S military in Iran’s courts for damage caused.
Iran’s judiciary made the statement on Saturday July 25, 2020, following a report by the Iranian media that passengers on the Mahan Air flight that headed Beirut from Tehran sustained several injuries when the pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with the U.S. jet.
In the footage of the incident broadcast on Friday by Iranian state TV, there was a passenger who sustained injuries to the nose and head, while another was lying on the floor motionless.
“All passengers on Mahan Air Flight 1152, Iranians and non-Iranian, can sue the terrorist U.S. military – commanders, perpetrators, supervisors and deputies – in Iranian courts for moral and physical damages,” said head of the judiciary’s human rights office, Ali Bagheri-Kani
Bagheri-Kani further said that Iranian courts exercise laws that deal with human rights violations and what he called U.S terrorist acts in the region.
He also said that the passengers cold also charge the U.S through the U.N body called International Civil Aviation Organization, which deals with international civil aviation agreements.
The U.S military has however responded to the incident saying that U.S. jet was inspecting the airliner at a safe distance as the airliner passed the U.S. forces base near the Tanf garrison in Syria.
Adding to the list of tensions between Iran and the U.S, the Thursday’s incident is the latest in the series since the U.S withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal, and imposed backbreaking sanctions on Iran which has gnawed deep at its economy.
