Iran won’t allow enemy exploit Ukrainian plane incident: Army chief

Army Chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi has said Iran will not let the enemy take advantage of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian plane, Tehran Times reported citing Mehr.

“We won’t let the enemy take advantage of the recent aerial accident, which was bitter and regrettable for everyone, and disrupt the tranquility and security of the country and the people by its disinformation campaign,” Mousavi said on Tuesday.

“Today, Iran’s aerospace is more secure than before for all flights and is ready to provide different flights with its services,” he added.

All 176 crew members and passengers, 147 of whom were Iranians, died in the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) crash which came a few minutes after take-off from Tehran to Kiev on Wednesday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces issued a statement on Saturday saying that the Ukrainian plane crash was caused by a “human error”.

“The Ukrainian passenger plane was hit unintentionally and due to human error, which unfortunately led to the martyrdom of a number of our people and also a number of foreign nationals,” the statement read.