Iranian President,Hassan Rouhani, said Iran will punish all those responsible for the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane.

 

He said this in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that the “tragic event” would be investigated thoroughly.

“It was an unforgivable error … one person cannot be solely responsible for the plane crash,” he said.

“Iranian Armed Forces admitting their mistake is a good first step … We should assure people that it will not happen again,” he said, adding that his government was “accountable to Iranian and other nations who lost lives in the plane crash”.

Newsmen report that Iran admitted “unintentionally” shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board.

The military said the jet turned towards a sensitive site belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and was then mistaken for a cruise missile.

Iran had previously rejected suggestions that it was to blame.

The downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, on Wednesday, came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.

The strikes were a response to the killing of senior Iranian commander Qaseem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Jan. 3.

 

 

NAN