The US state department said it was aware of Mr Vafadari's sentence and called for the "immediate release of all US citizens unjustly detained and missing in Iran". Iran does not recognise dual nationals and denies them access to consular assistance. At least 30 dual nationals - most of them Europeans or Americans - are believed to have been detained in Iran over the past three years, mostly on spying charges. Analysts say hardliners see them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. The dual nationals currently in prison include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker; Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his elderly father Baquer, a former Unicef representative; and Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, an Iranian-Canadian who was part of Iran's nuclear negotiating team.

DONALD TRUMP and Vladimir Putin’s air forces had a close call Monday when a Russian SU-27 jet performed a potentially “fatal” intercept on a US spy plane amid rising fears of World War 3. Shocking footage of the maneuver, captured by the US jet, shows just how close the Russian fighter came to the place.

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Hair-raising moment Russian jet intercepts US spy plane

 

The footage, released by US military, shows the Russian jet flying 1.5 meters away from the US plane as tensions between President Donald Trump and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin escalate amid World War 3 fears. 

The two planes came so close together that the US EP-3E was forced to fly through the Russian’s “jet wash”, according to US Naval Forces Europe spokeswoman, Captain Pamela Kunze.

She explained: "This interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 closing to within five feet and crossing directly through the EP-3's flight path, causing the EP-3 to fly through the SU-27's jet wash.

"Unsafe actions‎ increase the risk of miscalculation and midair collisions.

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World War 3 news: A Russian plane came within feet of the US spy plane

Inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal

John Kirby

"The US aircraft was operating in accordance with international law and did not provoke this Russian activity."

CNN military analyst John Kirby blasted the SU-27’s actions as “inexcusable, provocative and potentially fatal”.

He went on: “While it is difficult to determine the degree to which senior levels in the chain of command are involved in the specific conduct of any particular intercept, one thing is absolutely clear: The Kremlin desires to challenge US military patrols in and above the Black Sea and elsewhere.

"It's a policy we must presume the Russian defence establishment is acting concertedly and aggressively to pursue. Russian military leaders are known for a lot of things. Independent thinking is not one of them.”

Russian army shows off its power

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In a statement, the US State Department said: "This is but the latest example of Russian military activities disregarding international norms and agreements," the statement said, calling on Russia "to cease these unsafe actions."

The Russian defence ministry justified the actions of the SU-27 by claiming it flew “strictly in accordance with international rules”.

In a statement, it added: "An SU-27 fighter was sent to intercept the target and approached the aircraft at a safe distance and identified it as an ER-3E (Aries II) US reconnaissance aircraft.

"The crew of the fighter jet reported the identification of the American reconnaissance aircraft and accompanied it, preventing it from violating Russian airspace, observing all necessary security measures.

• "After the surveillance plane of the US Navy had changed its course to move away from the border, the SU-27 returned to its base," it was quoted as saying.