Hassan Rouhani: Shooting Down of Ukrainian Plane Unforgivable Error

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

The Ukrainian International airliner bound for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, crashed minutes after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on January 8 amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. 

The plane carried mostly Iranians and Iranian Canadians.

On the evening of January 10, Iran’s military announced that they had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet, blaming human error because the plane took ‘an unexpected turn’ toward a military base.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Related Story: Iran: We Unintentionally Shot Down the Ukrainian Plane