A plane that took off from Iran was forced to make an emergency landing in Syria to avoid coming under fire from its air defences.

Syrian troops were responding to Israeli strikes on Damascus, according to Russia media.

The Airbus A320 had been coming into land at the Syrian capital's International Airport.

The Syrian Cham Wings plane was then forced to divert to the nearest alternative airfield, the Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia in northwest Syria, which is operated by Russia.

Israeli officials have so far declined to comment on the incident.

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A Cham Wings plane flew Iran's General Qassem Soleimani from Damascus to Baghdad shortly before the military commander was killed by the United States in an airstrike in January.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria, saying its goal is to end Tehran's military presence in the country, which has been locked in a civil war since 2011.

Russia’s Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov accused Israel of using civilian aircraft as cover to block Syrian air defences.

"Such operations by Israeli strategists gamble the lives of hundreds of innocent people," Konashenkov said.

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"The movement of regular passenger flights both in Syrian airspace and around the world is carried out in known, high-altitude echelons, which Israeli radar can clearly see."

Spokespeople for the Israeli military and foreign ministry also declined to comment.

The incident took place a month after a Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane was shot down after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.

Iran later said its military had accidentally shot the plane down during retaliatory military strikes on US bases in Iraq.

• Iran
• Russia

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