The US has barred the commercial airlines of the countryfrom flying over the Iran-controlled airspace amid heightened militaryactivities and political tensions in the region.
The warning order from the US Federal Aviation Administrationon Thursday came after Iran shot down an American high-altitude surveillancedrone that was said to be flying near civil air routes above the Gulf of Oman,reports Efe news.
“All flight operations in the over-water area of theTehran Flight Information Region above the Persian Gulf and Gulf Of Oman onlyare prohibited until further notice due to heightened military activities andincreased political tension in the region,” the FAA said in a statement.
The regulator said the tension in the region has presented”an inadvertent risk to US civil aviation operations and potentialmiscalculation or misidentification” which was demonstrated by an”Iranian surface-to-air missile shoot(ing) down a US unmanned aircraftsystem” on Thursday.
Iran has said the drone was shot-down when it entered itsairspace to carry out surveillance tasks.
But the Pentagon said that the drone was carrying outreconnaissance over international waters in the vicinity of civil air routesabove the Gulf of Oman.
The shooting down of Global Hawk aircraft further escalatedalready deteriorating tensions between the US and Iran.
It was the latest in a series of incidents in the Gulfregion after the relation between the two countries deteriorated following USPresident Donald Trump withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran andEuropean member countries.
Trump resumed sanctions against Iran that were lifted underthe international pact and decided not to renew waivers the US had granted toeight countries to continue to buy Iranian crude oil.
After the shooting down of the drone, Trump tweeted:”Iran made a very big mistake!”
However hours later, he downplayed the incident and saidthat it could possibly have been an accident.
“I find it hard to believe it was intentional. It couldhave been somebody who was loose and stupid,” Trump told media during hismeeting with the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.