Belarus Fighter Jet Forced to Land in Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian warplanes forced a Belarusian fighter jet to land for interrogations after the plane violated the country’s airspace.

Iranian officials forced the Ilyushin Il-76 to land in the southern port city of Bushehr early Wednesday morning, Belarusian News Agency BelTA reported.

The plane was carrying a Belarusian military delegation to Doha in Qatar to attend the end of a military exercise dubbed Rapacious Falcon, Belarus’ Foreign Ministry said.

Members of a military delegation aboard the plane were interrogated by Iranian officials before they were permitted to leave Iranian soil.

Belarus’ Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to Belarus, Seyed Abdollah Hosseini, who apologized and assured that Tehran would conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident, which he said occurred due to lack of coordination.