Region | Iran
Guards chief: US jets violated Iran airspace
US warplanes have violated Iranian airspace in Khuzestan province, Al Alam channel quoted a local military chief as saying yesterday.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:00 April 2, 2007
- Riot police prevent hardline students from entering the British embassy in Tehran during a protest yesterday demanding the trial and punishment of 15 British sailors seized by the Islamic republic for alleged illegal entry into its territorial waters on March 23.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Tehran: US warplanes have violated Iranian airspace in the southwestern oil-rich province of Khuzestan, Al Alam Arabic language news satellite channel quoted a local military chief as saying yesterday.
"Two US aircraft trespassed into Iranian airspace northwest of (the southwestern port city of) Abadan before flying southwest into Iraq," a local Revolutionary Guards commander in Abadan identified only as Colonel Aqili was quoted as saying on the channel's website.
"The planes left white vapour trails, attracting the local people's attention," he said, without elaborating on when the alleged incursion took place.
But a US military spokesman, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Pierson, said there were no reports of any US aircraft violating Iranian airspace.
The US is in a mounting diplomatic confrontation with Iran over its uranium enrichment. Tensions have spiked since Iran's seizure on March 23 of 15 British sailors for allegedly entering Iranian waters.
In Tehran, hundreds of students threw rocks and firecrackers at the British Embassy yesterday, calling for the expulsion of the country's ambassador.
The demonstration stood in stark contrast to statements made by British government officials that they were looking for new ways to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Several dozen policemen prevented the protesters from entering the embassy compound, although a few briefly scaled a fence outside the facility's walls before being pushed back, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
The students, who chanted slogans against the US and the UK, also advised Tehran not to release Faye Turney, the lone female sailor held captive, or show any flexibility until the British apologised.
New options
Before the protest, British government officials said they were examining new options for dialogue with Tehran, but refused to discuss a report by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that a naval officer would be sent to Tehran as a special envoy to negotiate the return of the personnel.
The report claimed the official would deliver an assurance that British naval crews would never deliberately enter Iranian waters without permission.
Transport Minister Douglas Alexander told the BBC that Britain was engaged in "exploring the potential for dialogue with the Iranians."
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