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Iran says missile that hurt three was US or UK
Tehran, Mar 23: A missile that injured three Iranians when it landed on a petrochemical depot at Abadan, near the border with Iraq, was fired by a US and British warplane, Tehran`s interior ministry said today.
Tehran, Mar 23: A missile that injured three Iranians when it landed on a petrochemical depot at Abadan, near the border with Iraq, was fired by a US and British warplane, Tehran's interior ministry said today.
"We are sure it was American or British," ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khamjani said today.
He quoted witnesses describing the aircraft concerned, adding that Iranian radar had detected no Iraqi planes in the sky at the time.
Earlier today, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari said at least one of a series of missiles that have hit Iranian territory since Britain and the United States attacked Iraq last week was Iraqi and not western. "Our investigating experts found that the missile which hit Sardasht (in Iran's western Kordestan province) may have been made in Iraq," Musavi-Lari told the country's official news agency.
He said the foreign ministry had summoned Iraq's Charge d'Affaires here to lodge a formal protest.
Iran was hit by two coalition rockets yesterday, an Iranian commander said. Abadan city Governor Jamal Alemi said three people, including a security guard, were hurt when a bomb or missile fell on the Petrochemic Al Depot in Abadan on Friday. Britain insisted today that the ordnance was probably Iraqi. "Given the disposition of forces it's most likely that this incident was the result of Iraqi action," a defence ministry spokeswoman in London said.
Iran, which has adopted a neutral stance over the US-led war on Iraq, has also condemned what it says have been repeated violations of its airspace by British and US warplanes. Bureau Report
He quoted witnesses describing the aircraft concerned, adding that Iranian radar had detected no Iraqi planes in the sky at the time.
Earlier today, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari said at least one of a series of missiles that have hit Iranian territory since Britain and the United States attacked Iraq last week was Iraqi and not western. "Our investigating experts found that the missile which hit Sardasht (in Iran's western Kordestan province) may have been made in Iraq," Musavi-Lari told the country's official news agency.
He said the foreign ministry had summoned Iraq's Charge d'Affaires here to lodge a formal protest.
Iran was hit by two coalition rockets yesterday, an Iranian commander said. Abadan city Governor Jamal Alemi said three people, including a security guard, were hurt when a bomb or missile fell on the Petrochemic Al Depot in Abadan on Friday. Britain insisted today that the ordnance was probably Iraqi. "Given the disposition of forces it's most likely that this incident was the result of Iraqi action," a defence ministry spokeswoman in London said.
Iran, which has adopted a neutral stance over the US-led war on Iraq, has also condemned what it says have been repeated violations of its airspace by British and US warplanes. Bureau Report