Iran admits mowing down Ukrainian aircraft, calls it an "human mistake"

Iran admitted on Saturday that it was he who accidentally killed a Ukraine plane on the outskirts of Tehran.  Iran has called it a 'human mistake'.  There were 176 people on the plane.  Iran said that the culprits would …

Iran admitted on Saturday that it was he who accidentally killed a Ukraine plane on the outskirts of Tehran.  Iran has called it a 'human mistake'.  There were 176 people on the plane.  Iran said that the culprits would not be spared.

 In a statement, according to Tehran-based Press TV, Iran's armed forces general staff said that at the time of the crash on Wednesday, the forces were placed on high alert.

 The statement assured that "by making fundamental improvements in operational procedures at the level of the armed forces we will make it impossible to replicate such errors."

 According to the news agency Effe, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran said the mistake was made in the context of a 'very critical crisis situation'.  It was claimed that the US-built Boeing 737-800 was flying close to a sensitive IRGC military center, Ukrainian aircraft were also flying close to the military center, mistakenly thought to be American aircraft and shot down.

 In this case, President Hassan Rouhani responded, "Iran is very sorry for this devastating mistake in the Islamic Republic of Iran. My condolences to the families of the victims. I express my heartfelt condolences."

 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif tweeted, "Extreme regrets, condolences and apologies to our people, families of all victims and other affected countries."

 He continued, "A sad day. Preliminary conclusion of internal investigation by the armed forces: American audacity caused human error in times of crisis."

 This was confirmed on Saturday following allegations previously rejected by Iran that one of its missiles shot down the PS75 flight of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) going to Kiev.  All 176 people aboard the plane were killed.

 The day after the crash, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Tudrow and US media reports had quoted US and Iraqi intelligence officials as saying that the plane was shot down by an Iranian missile.

 Tudrow also confirmed that his government had 'evidence' indicating that the aircraft was shot down by a ground-to-air Iranian missile.  However he said that it may have been done inadvertently.

 These claims were rejected by Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabei on Friday, saying the report was a psychological war against Iran.