Iran has now admitted "unintentionally" shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people on board a few days ago. An investigation found "missiles were fired due to human error", President Hassan Rouhani said. He described the crash as an "unforgivable mistake".
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 Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad on the 3rd January. Iran initially denied reports that one of its missiles had brought down the Ukrainian plane near the capital, Tehran. But pressure quickly mounted after Western intelligence officials said evidence pointed to Iranian involvement.
The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew members on board. It came in the midst of escalating tensions between the US and Iran. After days of denial - and mounting evidence - Iran admitted it had shot the Boeing plane down "unintentionally".
Here is what is know.
On the 8th January, at 06:12 local time (02:42 GMT), UIA flight PS752 took off from Imam Khomeini International Airport. The plane was a Boeing 737-800. Before it had left the airport's air space, the plane appeared to turn around and try to return to the runway. Shortly afterwards, it crashed. The aircraft's "black boxes", which record flight data and sound within the cockpit, were recovered from the wreckage. But there have also been reports that bulldozers were sent to the crash site before international investigators had arrived, prompting speculation that evidence was being destroyed. The government in Tehran initially said the UIA plane suffered a technical problem shortly after take-off. It cited witnesses including the crew of another passenger plane who said it was on fire prior to impact. Authorities said they lost radar contact when the plane was at an altitude of about 8,000ft (2,400m), minutes after taking off. It has also been reported that no radio distress call was made by the pilots.
All 176 passengers and crew were killed, including 57 Canadian citizens. The plane was bound for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and many on board had a connecting flight to Toronto, Canada's largest city and a transit hub. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that, 138 people on that flight were en route to Canada. Canada is home to a large Iranian diaspora, with some 210,000 citizens of Iranian descent, according to the latest federal census. The country is also a popular destination for Iranian graduate and postdoctoral students to study and conduct research abroad, which is why many students were on the flight, returning to university following the winter break.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends and to the staff of Ukraine International
No comments:
Post a Comment