New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday scrambled its fighter jets to intercept a China-bound Iranian aircraft following a bomb alert. The Iranian airliner, however, was allowed to proceed as the bomb alert turned out to be false, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said.

“Intimation was received of a bomb scare on an airline bearing Iranian registration when it was transiting through Indian airspace. IAF fighter aircraft were scrambled, which followed the aircraft at a safe distance,” the IAF said in a statement.

on Monday scrambled fighter jets to intercept an Iranian passenger flight headed for Guangzhou in China after a bomb threat.According to IAF,

The inputs were received by security agencies in Delhi about the possibility of a bomb on board a civilian Mahan Air flight, which triggered an alert. The incident happened in the morning when flight W581 was flying over Indian airspace, according to IAF.

The IAF then deployed a fighter aircraft and followed the passenger flight while maintaining a safe distance.

“The aircraft was offered the option to land at Jaipur & then, at Chandigarh,” the statement added.

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However, the pilot was unwilling to divert to either airport. Later, Tehran asked the authorities to disregard the bomb threat.

"After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard the bomb scare, following which, the aircraft continued on its journey towards its final destination," the statement said.

The Mahan Air civilian airliner was under close rada surveillance by the Indian Air Force throughout the Indian airspace, the statement added.

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The Iranian carrier Mahan Air with a capacity of between 320 and 475 passengers was headed from the Iranian capital Tehran to Guangzhou in China.

According to the Flight tracking websites data, the aircraft performed several mid-air circles west of the Indian capital New Delhi before heading east towards its final destination.