Staff ReporterIran’s military early Saturday morning announced its role in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet that killed all 176 people on board, saying the shootdown was “unintentional” and blaming “human error.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani took to Twitter to call the crash a “great tragedy” and “unforgivable mistake.”
Mostly Iranians and Canadians were killed in the plane crash, with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau reacting by saying: “Our focus remains closure, accountability, transparency, and justice for the families and loved ones of the victims. This is a national tragedy, and all Canadians are mourning together.
“We will continue working with our partners around the world to ensure a complete and through investigation, and the Canadian government expects full cooperation from Iranian authorities.”
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif also tweeted to say that the crash was caused by human error, but ultimately blamed “US adventurism”.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy demanded a “full admission of guilt”, adding: “We expect assurances of readiness for a full and open investigation from Iran, bringing those responsible to justice, repatriation of bodies of the dead, payment of compensation, official apologies through diplomatic channels.”
