It was due to human error – Iran apologizes for unintentionally shooting down Ukrainian airplane

The military of Iran has tendered an apology for its ‘unintentional’ shooting down of the Ukrainian airplane killing 176 persons on board. 

The military released a statement on Saturday morning where it blamed ‘human error’ for the incident . 

According to them the Flight 752 was mistook for a “hostile target” and hence promptly shit down. 

Press TV also quoted Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces as saying that the plane had flown close to a “sensitive military site”.

The military said it was at its “highest level of readiness” amid the heightened tensions with the United States.

“In such a condition, because of human error and in a unintentional way, the flight was hit,” the military said.

The military vowed to upgrade its system to avoid further accidents as the president of Iran had said on social media “deeply regrets this disastrous mistake”.

“My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences,” he said, adding that “investigations continue to identify and prosecute this great tragedy and unforgivable mistake”.

This is coming after Iran had denied multiple times that it had not shot down the plane despite reports from the US and Canada saying otherwise. 

“What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane,” Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran’s civil aviation authority, had said. 

In a social media post, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that “human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to the disaster”.

“Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims and to other affected nations.”

“This is the right step for the Iranian government to admit responsibility and it gives people a step toward closure with this admission,” said Payman Parseyan, a prominent Iranian-Canadian in western Canada who lost a number of friends in the crash.

“I think the investigation would have disclosed it whether they admitted it or not. This will give them an opportunity to save face,” he told AP news agency.

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