MOSCOW, September 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow is deeply concerned over the downing of a Syrian air force plane by the Israeli air defence over the Golan Heights and calls on all countries of the region to show restraint, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“In the morning on September 23, Israel’s air defence systems downed a Syrian warplane that entered air space over the occupied Golan Heights,” the ministry said. “Moscow is deeply concerned over this incident which only aggravates the tense situation in the region.”

“We call on all countries of the region and states outside this region to demonstrate maximum restraint. In the face of a tough challenge of international terrorism that has chosen the Middle East as one of its key targets, it is vital now not to open a new “front” of confrontation, but, on the contrary, to consolidate efforts of all parties concerned to rebuff this threat,” the ministry stressed.