Quito, Jul 24 (AP) Jordi Cruyff has stepped down as Ecuador coach without leading the national team in any games.

The Ecuadorian soccer federation said Thursday it had agreed to end the Spanish-Dutch coach's contract at the request of Cruyff, who is the son of soccer great Johan Cruyff.

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"The coach of the national team communicated his resignation to the president of the federation," the federation said in a statement.

"All contractual clauses will be respected, including the one of damages for unilateral termination of contract by the coach."

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The 46-year-old Jordi Cruyff, a former Barcelona and Manchester United midfielder, had signed a three-year contract in January before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted the international season.

With the permission of the federation, Cruyff has not been to the South American nation since March.

South American World Cup qualifiers are set to begin in less than three months. Ecuador's first match will be against Lionel Messi's Argentina. (AP) ATK ATK 07241024 NNNNis near Syria's borders with Iraq and Jordan.

The US has declared it a so-called de-conflicted zone. Beyond it, Syrian forces and their Iranian allies operate, which makes it a remaining flashpoint in the region.

The reports said the interception forced the pilot to sharply change altitude, flying low and causing slight injuries among some of the passengers.

According to the Iranian TV report, the fighter jets came within a distance of 100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310.

The pilot quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a collision with the jets, the report said.

US Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, later told the AP that a US F-15 fighter jet “conducted a standard visual inspection of a Mahan Air passenger airliner at a safe distance of approximately 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner this evening.”

“The visual inspection occurred to ensure the safety of coalition personnel at al-Tanf garrison,” Urban said.

“Once the F-15 pilot identified the aircraft as a Mahan Air passenger plane, the F-15 safely opened distance from the aircraft.”

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 metres (2,000 feet) to ensure they don't hit each other, though planes travelling that close together can encounter wake turbulence.

Data from the flight recorded by website FlightRadar24.com showed the airliner climbed from 34,000 feet to 34,600 feet in under two minutes around the time of the incident, then dropped back down to 34,000 feet within a minute after.

The aircraft landed soon after this but three passengers sustained injuries and were taken to hospital, the TV report said, citing what it described as informed but unnamed sources at the Beirut airport.

The report also said some of the cabin crew were injured but did not elaborate.

Iranian state TV quoted the pilot of the Iranian plane as saying the fighter jets' pilots had identified themselves as American over radio communication.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said that following the incident, a protest note was sent to the Swiss Embassy, which represents America's interests in Iran, warning that if any accident happens on the plane's return flight to Tehran, it will be the responsibility of the United States.

The ministry's spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said Iran is investigating the incident.

The same note was also delivered to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres by Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi.

Mahan Air is a privately owned airline based in Tehran that flies across the Mideast.

In 2011, the US Treasury sanctioned the airline for allegedly “providing financial, material and technological support” to Iran's Quds Force, the expeditionary arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The Treasury also alleged Mahan Air had carried weapons, goods and personnel for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

All this comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the US after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers over two years ago.

In the time since, a series of escalating incidents have occurred across the Mideast between the two countries, including the US killed an Iranian general in a drone strike and Tehran launching ballistic missiles targeting American forces in Iraq. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)