Iran says it 'unintentionally' shot down Ukraine passenger jet

Iran said Saturday it "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people aboard, in an abrupt about-turn after initially denying Western claims it was struck by a missile.

President Hassan Rouhani said a military probe into the tragedy had found "missiles fired due to human error" brought down the Boeing 737, calling it an "unforgivable mistake".

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau demanded Saturday that Iran provide "full clarity" on the downing of the plane, which Ottawa says had 57 Canadian citizens aboard.

"A full and complete investigation must be conducted," Trudeau said. "Iran must take full responsibility."

Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered his condolences and ordered the armed forces to address "shortcomings" so that such a disaster does not happen again.

The acknowledgement came after officials in Iran denied for days Western claims that the Ukraine International Airlines plane had been struck by a missile in a catastrophic error.

The jet, which had been bound for Kiev, slammed into a field shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport before dawn on Wednesday.

The crash came hours after Iran launched missiles at bases hosting American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike.

- Protesters 'dispersed' -

On Saturday evening, police dispersed students who had converged on Amir Kabir University in Tehran to pay tribute to the victims, after some among the hundreds who gathered shouted "destructive" slogans, Fars news agency said.

State television reported that students shouted "anti-regime" chants, while Fars reported that posters of Soleimani had been torn down.

The aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards accepted full responsibility for Wednesday's accident.

But Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said the missile operator acted independently, targeting the Boeing 737 by mistaking it for a "cruise missile".

The operator failed to obtain approval from his superiors because of disruptions to a communications system, he said.

"He had 10 seconds to decide. He could have decided to strike or not to strike and under such circumstances he took the wrong decision."

"It was a short-range missile that exploded next to the plane," Hajizadeh added.

Iran had been under mounting international pressure to allow a "credible" investigation after video footage emerged appearing to show the moment the airliner was hit.

In footage that the New York Times said it had verified, a fast-moving object is seen rising into the sky before a bright flash appears. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnston said Iran's acknowledgement was an "important first step", a line echoed by the German chancellor.

Iran's military was the first domestic institution to acknowledge the error, saying the aircraft had been mistaken for a "hostile target".

It said Iran had been at the highest level of alert after American "threats" and that the plane had turned and come close to a "sensitive" military site before it was targeted due to "human error".

Rouhani said Iran had been on alert for possible US attacks after Soleimani's "martyrdom".

"Iran is very much saddened by this catastrophic mistake and I, on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, express my deep condolences to the families of victims of this painful catastrophe," the president said.

Rouhani added he had ordered "all relevant bodies to take all necessary actions (to ensure) compensation" to the families of those killed.

- Calls for transparency -

The majority of passengers on Flight PS752 were Iranians and Canadians, including dual nationals, while Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes were also aboard.

Rouhani told his Ukrainian counterpart Saturday that "all the persons involved in this air disaster will be brought to justice," Ukraine's presidency said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier on Facebook "we expect Iran... to bring the guilty to the courts."

Sweden demanded a "complete and transparent probe" while Afghanistan said families of 13 of its citizens killed in the tragedy "deserve answers".

The disaster came as tensions soared in the region after Soleimani's killing, and fears grew of an all-out war between Iran and its arch-enemy the United States.

Washington said the Soleimani strike was carried out to prevent "imminent", large-scale attacks on American embassies.

Tehran had vowed "severe revenge" for his killing before launching missiles at the bases in Iraq.

Iran has invited the US, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the crash investigation.

It is Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 when the US military said it shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake, killing all 290 people on board.

The European Union's air safety agency on Saturday advised airlines to avoid flying over Iran.

"The recommendation in the current security climate is that overflight of Iran at all altitudes should be avoided until further notice, as a precautionary measure," the European Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement.

With nations around the world calling for restraint and de-escalation, fears of a full-blown conflict have subsided after US President Donald Trump said Iran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases in Iraq.

In the words of a general: how Iran downed airliner
Tehran (AFP) Jan 11, 2020 - The aerospace commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday accepted full responsibility for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet.

In remarks aired on state television, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said the missile operator who fired on the plane did so independently because of communications "jamming".

It came as Iran acknowledged the Boeing 737 had been shot down, after denying for days Western claims that it was likely to have been brought down by a missile.

Here are the main excerpts of his 12-minute explanation:

- '10 seconds to decide' -

- Hajizadeh said he first heard of "the heartbreaking incident" while in the west of the country after Iran fired missiles at US troops hosted at Iraqi bases.

- "I take full responsibility and I will obey whatever decision is taken. I would prefer to die rather than witness such an incident."

- "On the night of the incident, at around sunset, the alert level was at war status, the highest level of readiness."

- "At various stages, it was reported... that cruise missiles had been fired towards the country, and at one or two stages it was reiterated again that these (missiles) were on the way, be ready."

- "You see, the systems are at the highest level of readiness. You only need to press the button."

- "Given the information provided to the (missile) operator that it was a war situation and cruise missiles had been fired, this person identified this as a (missile)."

- "He was obliged to make contact and get verification. The operator's mistake was this point. But apparently, his communications system had some disruptions. Now either the 'jamming' system was the cause or the network was busy or whatever, he couldn't get in touch."

- "He had 10 seconds to decide... Unfortunately under these circumstances, he made this bad decision, the missile was fired and the plane was hit and then... it turned and the spot that it crashed at was here," he said, pointing to a map.

- 'All-out conflict'-

- Hajizadeh defended the Iran Civil Aviation Organisation after it rebuffed Western claims the plane carrying 176 people had been shot down.

- "First of all, I must say that they were acting in accordance with their own knowledge (of the situation). They were not aware of this incident."

- "The armed forces had formed a team to investigate the incident before I reached Tehran and they put this team... in complete isolation. We were not allowed to say anything to anyone. We had provided the information but the investigation needed to be carried out. The reason it took several days before this was announced to the media wasn't that some had wanted to hide the issue, but that this was the procedure and the (armed forces) had to investigate it."

- "They investigated and on Friday morning almost all information had been gathered and it was clear what the incident was... some were at fault in this issue and naturally afterwards the (armed forces) made it public."

- "If there was any mistake, one of our (personnel) had made a mistake and as he was under our command the responsibility is with us. We must be answerable."

- The civil aviation organisation, he said, had denied the plane had been hit by a missile based on its experience outside the military.

- Its assessment had also been "based on the fact that if a missile hit a plane, it should explode in the air" and that "it turned and wanted to land".

- "It was a short-range missile that exploded next to the plane. That's why the plane was able" to continue flying for a while. "It exploded when it hit the ground."

- "Neither the armed forces, nor the Guards intended to hide anything. We are saddened by this incident... We too have lost our dear ones. We are sorry."

- "This is the cost of America's evilness, tensions and actions in the region. That night we were prepared for an all-out conflict. I was in the west of the country and at any moment I considered it likely... as there were many planes flying in the region."

- "We considered the full possibility of cruise (missiles) being fired or planes entering" Iran's airspace.

- "We had prepared ourselves for an all-out conflict. Unfortunately, due to a hasty decision-making by one person this big catastrophe happened."

- Why were flights not cancelled? -

- The aerospace commander also explained why flights were not cancelled.

- "I don't want to accuse anyone here... Naturally those who are responsible will investigate this issue and make these things clear."

- "In my view, when the situation is a war situation, this should have been done by the relevant authorities. But somehow this didn't happen."

- "The civil aviation organisation is not at fault. They were not asked" to stop flights.

- "This goes back to the armed forces. This mistake and problem is the armed forces'. The government, the airport company, have no fault and are not to be blamed."

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