Iran finally admitted to having 'accidenteally' shot down the Ukrainian Airline Boeing 737-800 after repeatedly denying all accusations from Western leaders, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
The Ukranian jetliner had crashed on the outskirts of Tehran hours after Iran had launched a dozen ballistic missiles over US bases in Iraq housing the US coalition forces killing all 176 people on board according to reports.
The Iranian authorities have placed the onus on the ÚS adventurism’ referring to the escalating US-Iran tensions following the assassination of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani due to a drone strike ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran said in a tweet, “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”
“A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of an internal investigation by Armed Forces: Human error at the 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,” said Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister.
Iran’s military forces have sent out a statement clarifying the situation in which the plane was hit. The statement mentioned that the plane was mistaken for a “hostile target” after it turned toward a “sensitive military centre” of the Revolutionary Guard according to the AP report.
The statement also said that all those responsible for the strike will face prosecution.
Ukraine had decided to call for a probe into the crash urging western leaders to support the investigation on Thursday including the National Transportation Safety Board
of US. Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau, in a press briefing, had mentioned the involvement of Iranian armed forces in the crash as per ‘multiple intelligence sources’ according to reports.
The plane bound for the Ukranian capital of Kyiv had crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. The passengers onboard were nationals from multiple western and middle eastern countries including 82 Iranians, 57 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians according to officials.