Iran admits firing missile that shot down Ukrainian plane

Iran's Armed Forces General Staff admitted on Saturday 11 that, by "human error", a missile launched by its own army shot down the Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737 plane with 176 people aboard. In a statement, the Iranian government said the aircraft was identified as a "hostile aircraft" and hit it at the time the enemy threat was "at the highest level." Tehran even apologized for the incident.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani said his country "deeply regrets" the incident, which it called "a great tragedy" and an "unforgivable mistake," according to a statement issued by state news agency Irna. "The Armed Forces' internal investigation found that, sadly, missiles launched by a human error caused the horrific impact on the plane and the deaths of 176 innocent people," the government-issued note reads.

Most of the victims had Iranian and Canadian nationalities, but there were also British, Swedes and Ukrainians on board. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has made Iran's apology for the catastrophe.

"It's a sad day," Zarif wrote on Twitter, citing the fall as a result of "human error in times of crisis caused by American adventurism." The incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, just after Iran fired missiles at military bases used by US military personnel stationed in Iraq. The attack was a response to the death of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani from a missile fired by a drone in Baghdad.

“Our deep regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, the families of all victims and the other affected nations,” said Zarif.

The General Staff has assured the population that the person responsible for the tragedy will be immediately brought to court and the fact will not be repeated. "We ensure that fundamental reforms in the Armed Forces' operational processes will make it impossible to repeat a similar error," the statement said.

Ukraine Airlines International (UAI) flight PS752 crashed two minutes after taking off from Tehran Airport to Kiev. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands had already anticipated that the fall was the result of an Iranian missile, and videos to this effect were posted on social networks .

Tragedy Announced

Incidents involving missiles and commercial aircraft over conflict areas are not uncommon. On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine, killing the 298 people aboard the Boeing 777, including 193 Dutch. Kiev authorities and pro-Russian separatist rebels have accused each other of firing the missile.

In July 1988, an Iran Air Airbus A-300, flying from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was shot down in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf by missiles fired from an American frigate patrolling. the Strait of Hormuz. The 290 people aboard died and the United States paid Iran $ 101.8 million in compensation.