The airliner was operated by Ukraine International Airlines (UIA). Iranian authorities could not deny the obvious: the Ukrainian Boeing had been shot down by their missile. On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially confirmed that the Ukrainian airliner had been brought down “as a result of an unintentional human error”.
During a telephone conversation with the President of Ukraine that took place on the initiative of Iranians, Rouhani offered his condolences to the Ukrainian people and the families of the victims killed by the plane crash and apologized for the tragedy that took 176 human lives. The President of Iran fully admitted that the military of his country were responsible for the tragedy that had happened because of their wrong actions. Offficial Tehran assured that all involved in the air incident would be called to account.
In his address to the nation that followed the Tehran statement, Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed Ukrainians on what had already been done by the power since the news about the crash. He said that the concerted effort of Ukrainian investigators prevented any attempt “to conceal the truth”.
“In these difficult days I promise that all bodies will be returned to their families. And they will be able to bid farewell to their loved ones. We will honor them in a proper manner. And all responsible will be punished”, said the head of State. He added that Kyiv expected that the investigation would be full and open, all the bodies of the killed Ukrainians would be returned home and compensations would be paid to their families.
For his part, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko commended the international community for its consolidated efforts that had helped to establish the truth.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau believes that the main task is to make Iran conduct the full and unbiased investigation of bringing down the Ukrainian Boeing that carried 63 Canadians. “That Iran has admitted to is very serious. Shooting down a civilian aircraft is horrific. Iran must take full responsibility. Canada will not rest until we get the accountability, justice and closure that the families deserve”, said the Canadian Prime Minister.
As it has been reported earlier, on January 8, an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down the Ukraine International Airlines passenger aircraft bound from Tehran to Kyiv. There were 167 passengers and nine members of the crew onboard the plane. The statement issued by Iranian authorities says that the air incident has happened due to a “human error”. The airplane was mistaken for a "hostile target" as it seemed to head toward a military center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The newspaper Holos Ukrainy
