(Eagle News) – Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said that the “human error” on the part of Iran’s military that caused the crash of a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 people was a “great tragedy” and an “unforgivable mistake.”
In a tweet posted after the Iranian military’s admission of its “unintentionally” firing a missile at the Ukraine plane, president Rouhani said: “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. Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake. #PS752”
He also offered his “sincerest condolences” to the “mourning families,” saying that Islamic Republic of Iran “deeply regrets this disastrous mistake.”
“My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences,” President Rouhani said.
Iran’s armed forces earlier admitted that it had “unintentionally” shot down a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 people after the jet flew close to a “sensitive military center.”
The statement by the Iran military was read on state TV, and was immediately reported by various news agencies.
It said that people responsible for this would be held accountable.
“As a result of a human error, the plane was unintentionally shot down,” the General Staff of Iran’s armed forces said in a statement, as quoted by the IRIB state TV and radio broadcaster.
Iran’s armed forces said it mistook the Ukraine jet that just took off from an airport in Tehran as a “hostile plane.”
-Human error caused by “US adventurism”, says Iran’s foreign minister Zarif-
Immediately after the announcement, the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif said that this was a “sad day.”
While he issued an apology and offered his “condolences to our people” and to the victims’ families and other affected nations, he said the “human error” was caused by “US adventurism.”
Zarif tweeted: “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,” he added.
Before this, Iran had previously denied speculations that it was responsible for the Ukrainian plane crash.
The Boeing passenger jet of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 crashed in Iran early on January 8, just hours after Tehran had launched a barrage of missiles at bases housing American troops in Iraq, in retaliation for the killing of commander Qasem Soleimani in a US strike.
All 176 on board the Ukraine passenger plane — mainly Iranian-Canadian dual nationals but also Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes — were killed.
The Boeing 737-800NG for UIA’s flight PS752 between Tehran and Kiev took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport at 6:12 am local time.
There was with no distress message from the pilot but it had begun to turn back for the airport, according to the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, before crashing at 6:18 am.
The aircraft slammed into the ground near Sabashahr in the outskirts of Tehran, its report said.
According to the Flight Radar 24 monitoring site, there were 10 departures from the Tehran airport that day before the departure of PS752.
Earlier, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada had intelligence from multiple sources “including our allies and our own intelligence” that indicated “the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.”
“This may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau added. He was backed by other Western leaders including Dutch Premier Mark Rutte and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
Using almost identical language, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was “a body of information” suggesting the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. “This may well have been unintentional,” Johnson added.
US President Donald Trump said he had “suspicions” as “somebody could have made a mistake,” adding that it was not “even a question” the plane suffered mechanical failure.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States believed it was “likely” that an Iranian missile downed the airliner.
(Eagle News Service with a report from Agence France Presse)