On Ukrainian plane incident:

Those responsible for unforgivable mistake to be prosecuted: Rouhani

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says those responsible for the unforgivable mistake that brought down a Ukrainian plane near Tehran will be identified and prosecuted.

News ID: 79862

Date: 11 January 2020 - 10:33

In a statement released on Saturday, Rouhani said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake... My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences."

The president stressed that “the terrible catastrophe should be thoroughly investigated, and those responsible for this unforgivable mistake will definitely be identified and prosecuted.”

In a statement issued on Saturday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran said that the cause of the Ukrainian passenger plane crash near Tehran has been “human error” in an air defense base, which happened amid missile strikes against US military base and considering the possibility of a military action in the accident

All 176 people on the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight died in the crash this week just after take-off from Tehran on a flight to Kiev.

The general staff of the armed forces said those responsible for shooting down the passenger jet would "immediately" be brought before military justice.

It assured that "by pursuing fundamental reforms in operational processes at the armed forces' level, we will make it impossible to repeat such errors."

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