MOSCOW — A passenger plane carrying 172 passengers from Tehran to Damascus made an emergency landing at the Russian-controlled Hmeimim Air Base in Syria on Thursday after coming under fire from Syrian air defenses, Russia said on Friday. The Syrian forces were responding to Israeli strikes on targets in Syria, Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, quoted by Interfax and other Russian agencies. The incident took place a month after a Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. Iran later said its forces had shot it down unintentionally due to human error. The Syrian defense ministry said on Thursday it had intercepted Israeli missiles over Damascus that were fired at military targets in southern Syria.

Source: International New York Times February 07, 2020 05:52 UTC