“Unintentional human error caused disaster”: Iran admits mistake on Ukrainian plane crash
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Tehran, January 11: Iran unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian plane that crashed near Tehran this week, killing 176 people, the nation's state media reported. The general staff of Iran's armed forces said the crash Wednesday was due to human error.
"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." Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted.
All the people on board the Boeing 737-800 were killed when the Kiev-bound plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini Airport. The victims include 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals.
Fragments of the plane had been taken to a hangar off-site to reconstruct it for the investigation, said Ali Abedzadeh, the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Authority. The victims' remains have been sent to a forensic lab for DNA testing.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Washington believes it is likely that Iran was responsible for the downing of the Boeing 737-800 and that an appropriate response would come when a final determination is made.
A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces:
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 11, 2020
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.
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Hours after the missile operation in Iraq, US military flights around Iranian borders increased and Iranian military officials reported seeing aerial targets coming toward Iran's strategic centers, according to a statement released by Iranian armed forces headquarters.
The Ukrainian flight took off from Imam Khomeini Airport and came close to a sensitive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military center at an altitude and flight condition that resembled hostile targeting, which led to it getting unintentionally hit, it added.
The recent escalated hostilities between the US and Iran have complicated the thorny task of investigating the crash. Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on Friday that President Donald Trump was authorizing yet more sanctions on Iran.
The Iranian government, which under international protocol has control of the investigation, had earlier said it would not work with the US or Boeing in the probe, but on Friday reversed its position.