Presidents of Ukraine, Iran discuss downed plane

16:20, 11.01.2020

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Saturday after Tehran said it had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet, the Ukrainian president’s office said.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Saturday said his country “deeply regrets” the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner, which he described as “a great tragedy and unforgivable mistake.”

“Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that, regrettably, missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people,” he added on Twitter. “Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake.”

Iran’s foreign minister offered his country’s “profound regrets, apologies and condolences” after the armed forces admitted shooting down a Ukrainian airliner due to “human error”.

The Ukrainian passenger plane travelling to Kiev crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board. Iran had previously denied any responsibility.

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downed plane

Hassan Rouhani

Volodymyr Zelensky