US shoots down Iranian plane missioned to collect aid from India
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New Delhi: A US airstrike at Iran's Mashhad airport on Monday damaged a Mahan Air aircraft, potentially disrupting a mission to India to collect humanitarian aid, Iranian officials claimed, PTI reported.
The plane was reportedly scheduled to fly to New Delhi this week to pick up essential medical supplies and aid for the Iranian people, they said.
US officials have not yet corroborated the claim.
The Iranian officials said the aircraft was damaged following the US attack on Mashhad airport.
According to reports, the plane was expected to arrive in New Delhi on April 1.
India sent the first consignment of medical supplies to Iran through the Iranian Red Crescent Society on March 18.
The Iranian embassy in New Delhi thanked the people of India for the aid.
Mahan Air is a privately-owned Iranian airline that operates flights in several countries in West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia.
First week this month, US torpedoed the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had been sailing back after participating in a naval exercise with the Indian Navy, even as India had earlier offered the vessel shelter at one of its ports after the commencement of the US–Israel attacks on Iran rendered its onward voyage precarious, though the American salvo ultimately consigned the warship to the depths off the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The Dena had earlier docked at Visakhapatnam after participating in the International Fleet Review 2026 and the multinational naval manoeuvres MILAN 2026 naval exercise, both hosted by the Indian Navy, and departed the eastern Indian port once the exercises concluded on February 25.