Incident unforgivable – Rouhani
Nothing save full admission of guilt is acceptable – – Ukrainian president
Iran on Saturday said it unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian airliner that crashed this week killing 176 people, calling it an “unforgivable mistake”.
The aircraft, UIA Flight PS752, en route to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several countries, including 82 Iranian-Canadians, 57 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians when it came down Wednesday, January 8 shortly after Iran launched missiles at bases hosting American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top generals, in a US drone strike.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tweeted.
“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,” he added.
“Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake.”
Earlier, Iran’s official IRNA news agency had published a statement from the military saying the Boeing 737 was mistaken for a “hostile plane” at a time when enemy threats were at the highest level.
The admission came a day after Iran’s civil aviation chief denied claims that the plane had been shot down, as international pressure mounted on Tehran to conduct a credible investigation after several Western governments blamed a missile strike.
The disaster came as tensions soared in the region after the Soleimani killing, and fears grew of an all-out war between the United States and Iran.
Washington has said the Soleimani strike was carried out to prevent “imminent”, large-scale attacks on US embassies. Iran had vowed “severe revenge” for Soleimani before launching missiles at the bases in Iraq.
“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,” the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif.
Iran has invited the United States, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the crash investigation.
The majority of passengers on UIA Flight PS752 which had just taken off from Tehran were Iranian-Canadian dual nationals but also included Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes.
It was Iran’s worst civil aviation disaster since the US military shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake in July 1988, killing all 290 people on board.
Video footage of the UIA 737, which the New York Times said it had verified, emerged and appeared to show the moment the airliner was hit.
A fast-moving object is seen rising at an angle into the sky before a bright flash appears, which dims and then continues moving forward. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard and the sky lights up.
Many airlines from around the world cancelled flights to Iran in the wake of the crash, or rerouted flights away from Iranian airspace.
Nations around the world have called for restraint and de-escalation, and fears of a full-blown conflict have subsided after US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases in Iraq.
Ukraine, Russia, UIA react
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded on Saturday that Iran must make an official apology and agree to a full investigation and compensation, as well as co-operating with Ukraine’s own investigators.
“Our 45 professionals should have full access and co-operation to establish justice.
“Even before the termination of the International Commission, Iran has pleaded guilty to crashing the Ukrainian plane. But we insist on full admission of guilt. We expect from Iran assurances of readiness for full and open investigation, bringing those responsible to justice, returning the bodies of the dead, payment of compensation, official apologies through diplomatic channels,” a statement from the presidency said.
Earlier on Friday, he said claims that the passenger plane was downed by an errant Iranian, Russian-made cruise missile were “unconfirmed” as he demanded evidence from Western countries suggesting theories behind the disaster.
He had urged the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom to share any intelligence data regarding the Ukraine International Airlines plane crash that killed all 176 passengers and crew on Wednesday, minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran.
Writing on his Facebook page, Zelenskyy said: “The version of a missile hitting the plane is not ruled out, but is, for now, unconfirmed.”
He later discussed the crash with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, who offered condolences and assistance in the ongoing investigation.
Zelenskyy briefed Pompeo about the progress in the investigation.
For its part, Russia said Iran must “learn lessons” from the disaster.
“If decryption of the black boxes and the work of the investigation do not prove that the Iranian army did this intentionally, and there are no logical reasons for this, the incident must be closed.
“Hoping that lessons will be learned and action taken by all parties,” said the chairman of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Equally, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) President Yevhenii Dykhne said he never doubted that the airline had not caused the crash of its passenger plane in that Middle East enclave.
Dykhne, in a social media post after Iran said it had mistakenly shot down the plane wrote: “We didn’t doubt for a second that our crew and our plane couldn’t be the cause for this horrible plane crash.
“These were our best guys and girls. The best.”
AFP, The Guardian, Al Jazeera
