Iran Admits Military “Accidentally” Shot Ukrainian Airplane

Tehran, MINA – The Iranian government admit that its military “accidentally” shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing all those on board, 176 people.

The statement that issued on Saturday morning blamed “human error” for the incident, the military thought Flight 752 was a “hostile target,” Aljazeera reported.

Press TV also quoted Iranian Armed Forces General Staff as saying that the plane was flying close to “sensitive military sites”.

The military said it was at the “highest level of alert” amid growing tensions with the United States.

“Under such conditions, due to human error and in an unintentional manner, the flight was shot,” the military said.

They apologized and said would improve the system to prevent next tragedies.

In a statement posted on social media, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote that the country “deeply regrets this devastating error.”

Earlier, within days Iran had denied that a missile had dropped a plane on Wednesday. But later, the US and Canada, quoting intelligence, said that they believed Iran shoot down the planes. (T/R6/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)