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‘Mistook Ukrainian plane for cruise missile’: Iran’s Guards commander
The plane was shot down by a short-range missile, aerospace division head Amirali Hajizadeh said.
A Ukrainian plane shot down by Iran was misidentified as a cruise missile, a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said on Saturday in a broadcast on Iranian state television.
The plane was shot down by a short-range missile, aerospace division head Amirali Hajizadeh said.
Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility for the downing of a Ukrainian airliner.
“I wish I could die and not witness such an accident,” aerospace division head Amirali Hajizadeh said.
Iran said on Saturday its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane killing all 176 aboard, saying air defences were fired in error while on high alert in the tense aftermath of Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.
Iran had previously vigorously denied bringing the plane down. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who until Saturday kept silent about the crash, said information should be made public.
Wednesday’s crash heightened international pressure on Iran after months of friction with the United States and tit-for-tat attacks. A US drone strike had killed a top Iranian military commander in Iraq on Jan. 3, prompting Tehran to fire at US targets on Wednesday.
Canada, which had 57 citizens on board, and the United States had both said they believed an Iranian missile brought down the aircraft although they said it was probably an accident. Canada’s foreign minister had told Iran “the world is watching.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote on Twitter, promising that those behind the incident would be prosecuted. “My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families.”
Experts said mounting international scrutiny would have made it all but impossible to hide signs of a missile strike in an investigation and Iran may have felt a policy U-turn was better than battling rising criticism abroad and growing grief and anger at home.
Many of the victims were Iranians with dual nationality.
