Iran's military said Saturday that it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 people aboard.
In a reversal of Iran's previous denial that a missile had downed the plane bound for Kiev shortly after it took off from Tehran on Wednesday, the military cited "human error" for the tragedy.
A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces:
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 11, 2020
Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster
Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.
💔
Most of the passengers were Iranian and Canadian, according to the Ukrainian government.
The incident occurred after Iran fired missiles at Iraqi bases hosting U.S. troops in retaliation for the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general last week.
(A woman leaves flowers at the portraits of nine crew members who were among 176 people on board of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 killed in the Jan. 8, 2020 plane crash in Iran.)
[Barcroft Media/Getty/Kyodo]
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