Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has called for Russia and Turkey to show restraint over the downing of a Russian fighter jet by the Turkish military.
The governments of Russia and Turkey should follow up on the issue of downing of the Russian plane “with insight and prevent the recurrence of such incidents through prudence and patience,” President Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24M Fencer aircraft with two pilots aboard was shot down by the Turkish military, in a move that angered Moscow, which is involved in an aerial campaign against Takfiri terrorists in Syria.
The Iranian president also urged all countries to prepare for the battle against terrorism to establish stability in the region.
He further described actions similar to the downing of the Russian plane as “extremely dangerous” and “provocative” and said the consequences of such measures “legally rest with the initiator.”
The Iranian president also called for Turkey to seriously take care of the tense situation in the region.
Ankara said on Tuesday that the shooting came after the plane was warned “ten times” for violating the Turkish airspace. However, Russia has dismissed Ankara’s claims and said the fighter jet was downed in the Syrian airspace.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia described Turkey’s act as a “stab in the back, carried out by the accomplices of terrorists,” and added that the aircraft was shot down over the territory of Syria with an air-to-air missile from a Turkish F-16 warplane.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday stressed that Turkey’s move looked “very much like a pre-planned provocation.”
