Iran admits to “unintentionally” shooting down Ukrainian plane

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran’s military early Saturday, January 11 morning announced its role in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet that killed all 176 people on board, saying the shootdown was “unintentional” and blaming “human error,” CNBC reports

The Boeing 737-800 airliner, Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752, crashed five minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday Jan. 8, just hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at two military bases in Iraq. The attacks on the bases, which housed American forces, were in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani the previous week. Those attacks caused no casualties.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani took to Twitter to call the crash a “great tragedy” and “unforgivable mistake.”

“Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” Rouhani’s tweet said. “Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed America’s actions for the “human error,” writing on Twitter that Iran’s armed forces concluded that “human error at time of crisis caused by U.S. adventurism led to disaster.”