Dismisses "Contradictory" Statements

A senior Defense Department spokesman dismissed Iranian-sourced reports that a US military aircraft had been forced down in Iran. The Iranian reports he has reviewed contradict themselves, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters Tuesday.

One story he read claimed that an American military aircraft had unintentionally violated Iranian airspace and had been forced to land in Iran, Whitman said. A subsequent Iranian state television report, he said, stated that the plane that was forced to land in Iran was not a US military plane, but had Americans on board. Another Iranian TV report said the plane was not American, Whitman said.

A follow-on Iranian state television report, Whitman continued, said the plane in question was Hungarian.

"While we're looking into those reports, there's no evidence to suggest any of these reports are true, with perhaps the exception of the last one about some Hungarian plane," Whitman said. There's nothing to suggest the accuracy of any of the Iranian reports, he added.

Officials at Multinational Force Iraq issued a separate statement Tuesday, saying all US aircraft are accounted for, and none is missing.

(Aero-News thanks Gerry J. Gilmore, American Forces Press Service)

FMI: www.defenselink.mil