Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht-Ravanchi said in identical letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council that Iran “expresses its strongest objections against this violation of international law and will pursue the issue through relevant international bodies.”

Takht-Ravanchi said a Mahan Airlines Airbus A310 en route from Tehran to Beirut on July 23 “was aggressively and unexpectedly intercepted” by two US F-15 fighter jets while traveling through internationally specified air corridors in Syria’s airspace, AP reported.

“In reaction to the offensive and hazardous maneuverings of the United States fighter jets and in order to save the civil aircraft and passengers’ lives, the airliner had to change altitude abruptly, causing injuries to the passengers on board,” the ambassador said.

US Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, said at the time of the incident that a US F-15 “conducted a standard visual inspection” of the Iranian plane “at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters from the airliner.”

The airliner’s pilot had to swiftly lower the altitude to avoid a collision with the American warplanes. The sudden swerve resulted in injuries to some of the passengers, who hit their heads against the plane’s ceiling. The flight, nevertheless, landed safely in the Lebanese capital, and all the passengers left the aircraft.

The Iranian envoy said that in line with provisions of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization contacted Syrian authorities and called for “a prompt and accurate investigation of the incident.”

He said Iranian authorities also launched an investigation after the plane returned from Beirut.

The results of both investigations will be released “after the revision and finalization of the collected data and information” by both teams, Takht-Ravanchi said.

“It is obvious that the act by the United States fighter jets is a flagrant violation of the aviation security and freedom of civil aviation reflected in the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation and its relevant annexes as well as an infringement of the 1971 Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation,” he said.

 “It is incumbent upon the United Nations to reject such an unlawful and yet adventuristic act and hold the United States accountable for this irresponsible behavior,” Takht-Ravanchi said.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Rouhani said the enemies of Iran are growing more and more frustrated as all their pressure tactics against the nation have failed to produce their desired results.

The enemies have thus resorted to a new scenario, “brazenly making dangerous mischief in international airspace,” he added, Press TV wrote.

“Where are the ICAO, the Security Council, the United Nations and the countries of the region? The state where the violation took place and the one that was the destination of the flight should all speak out,” he added.

Last Thursday, two US F-15 warplanes conducted a dangerous maneuvering close to Mahan Air’s Flight 1152 that had taken off from Tehran and was heading to Beirut.

The incident took place over Syria’s Al-Tanf region, where the US maintains an illegal military presence.

The US harassment led the pilot of Iranian passenger plane to swiftly lower the altitude to avoid a collision with the American jets, leaving several passengers injured.

“How is it possible for a fighter jet to fly close to a passenger jet through a free international route and on a specific aviation route and terrorize people?” asked Rouhani. “This is undoubtedly [an instance of] aerial terrorism.

“The individual who sends a fighter jet next to a passenger plane has committed an act of aerial terrorism and should be treated as a terrorist. The ICAO, the Security Council and countries must confront [that party].”

He further referred to the US downing of Iran Air Airbus A300B2 over the Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988, which killed 290 people, saying the Americans have had a history of such acts, but for them to do this in a third country is outrageous.

The president also slammed the US’s attempt to exert “maximum pressure” on the Iranian nation, saying the Americans have been “begging” the East and the West to deprive the Iranians of their rights under the 2015 nuclear deal and UNSC Resolution 2231 that entail the lifting of the UN arms embargo on Iran.

“Day and night, the White House brokers go from one country to another and make a phone call after another,” and all to no avail, he said.

Rouhani made the remarks in reference to recent visits by US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook to a range of countries, where he discussed extending a UN arms ban against Iran, which is set to expire on October 18.

“All these mischiefs and these games are because they faced defeat on any path they took against Iran,” the president said.

“We tell the White House statesmen that you have only one option left in the face of Iran, and that is observing rights, law, agreements and regulations and compensating for the damages you caused to the Iranian people. That means you have no second option,” he said.