Iran officials acknowledged Saturday that they accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard.
Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the aerospace division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, told state TV that his unit accepts “full responsibility” for shooting down the aircraft minutes after it took off Wednesday from Tehran’s international airport. He said that when he learned about the downing of the plane, “I wished I was dead.”
The aircraft, which was heading to Kiev, was shot down hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq. Those attacks were in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike in Baghdad.
No one was wounded in the attack on the bases.
Days later, U.S. military officials said they believed Iran had mistakenly shot down the plane using a surface-to-air missile. This conclusion was supported by videos that purportedly show a fast-moving light through the trees before a high fireball illuminates the landscape.
Someone off-camera says in Farsi: “The plane has caught fire. … In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. God, help us. Call the fire department!”
Hajizadeh told Iranian state media that Tehran had beefed up its air defenses and was at the “highest level of readiness,” fearing any U.S. retaliation to the missile attacks on its troops. – READ MORE