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Iran admits shooting down Ukrainian flight over Tehran in ‘unintentional’ missile launch Iran admits shooting down Ukrainian flight over Tehran in 'unintentional' missile launch
(about 2 hours later)
The Ukrainian passenger aircraft that recently crashed in Iran’s capital was brought down due to “human error” after flying too close to defense installations, triggering an accidental missile launch. The Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed after takeoff from Tehran was downed due to "human error" after it flew too close to a military site and triggered a missile launch amid a standoff with the US, the Iranian Army said.
A military statement read on state media channels came as the first confirmation from Iranian officials that a missile, and not an engine fire, caused the crash last Wednesday. The statement noted that the shooting down was “unintentional” and maintained that those responsible would face consequences. The Army General Staff stressed that the tragic mistake was made amid the flare-up of tensions with Washington. The nation's air defenses were placed on alert and ready to "respond to possible threats of the highest level," after US President Donald Trump warned that the Pentagon would strike targets on Iranian soil if US citizens or assets were attacked by Iran.
The statement comes after a number of conflicting press reports as to the fate of the aircraft, as well as claims from the United States and Canada that the plane was brought down by an anti-air missile strike, which Iran initially disputed, pending investigation. On Wednesday, the Iranian Army fired a volley of ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house American troops. It was a retaliation in response to a US drone strike, which killed top Iranian military chief Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad's airport.
The incident occurred on the heels of an Iranian missile attack on US bases in Iraq, launched in retaliation for an American assassination strike on Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, a culmination of months of rising tensions between the two countries. For several hours after the missile attacks, the army was detecting increased activity of US warplanes around the country and received alerts of possible airstrikes on "strategic sites" across Iran, the General Staff said.
All 176 people on board the airliner were killed in the crash, including 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainian crew members and several other nationals of Afghanistan, Germany and the UK. The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which took off from Tehran's airport the same day, was approaching "an important military site" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while traveling at the altitude of a "hostile flight," the statement noted.
The General Staff said that a further investigation will determine all the causes of the incident and those responsible would face consequences.
All 176 people on board the airliner were killed in the crash. Most of the victims were Iranian and Canadian nationals.
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