Unic Press UK: The Islamic Republic of Iran said Saturday that its forces mistakenly targeted/shot down a Ukrainian passenger airplane flight No. PS752, a Boeing 737, which crashed Wednesday morning in Iran shortly after take-off from an international airport situated south of the Iranian capital city, Tehran, after it was hit by an Iranian missile. 176 people were killed. None of the passengers survived.
In a tweet, Iran’s Foreign Minister said: “A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by the Armed Forces: Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.”
A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces:
Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster
Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.
💔— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 11, 2020
The Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander, Brig-Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, has taken full responsibility for this grave error of judgment, saying that he wished he could die when the news of error was communicated to him.
Initial information from the Iranian authorities when the airplane crashed; and killed all 176 passengers on board, was misleading as its aviation authorities denied that the passenger aircraft was hit by a missile. They had linked the accident to a technical glitch.
It took the Iranian government three days after the disaster to accept that its forces had mistaken the civilian airplane to be an enemy missile, thereby shooting it down.
This horrific accident happened a few hours after Iran had attacked two U.S. military bases in Iraq with a barrage of missiles, and many rightly speculated that a missile might have struck a passenger airplane in error.
How are people reacting to this grave error
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s outraged, furious. He called on the Iranian government to ensure accountability, justice for the families of the dead. 57 Canadians died.
The Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky insists on a proper apology from the Iranian government, and compensation to the families of the deceased. 11, out of the 176 passengers that died, were Ukraine citizens.
