Supreme Leader ordered swift release of Ukraine plane downing details: Report

Ayatollah Khamenei called ‎on authorities to make all details about the accidental downing of a Ukrainian jet public after ‎he heard about it.

News ID: 448465

Date: 12 January 2020 - 22:32

RNA – The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, called ‎on authorities to make all details about the accidental downing of a Ukrainian jet public after ‎he heard about it, Fars News Agency says. ‎

Ayatollah Khamenei also called for an investigation into possible negligence that led to the ‎incident in which 176 people, mostly Iranians, lost their lives. ‎

The Leader, along with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, was notified of the matter on Friday ‎after an internal military probe concluded that the downing was the result of “human error,” ‎Fars said.‎

The report said the investigation had been concluded less than 48 hours following the crash ‎on Wednesday.‎

Ayatollah Khamenei called for the immediate release of the probe’s findings as he ordered a ‎meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Friday night to investigate the incident. ‎

After the meeting, Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces issued a statement on Saturday ‎morning, acknowledging that the country’s air defenses had “unintentionally” downed the ‎aircraft.‎
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The statement stressed that those guilty would be brought to military justice and that ‎‎“fundamental reforms” would be pursued to make future incidents “impossible.”‎

The incident happened as Iran had “raised the sensitivity” of its air defenses due to increased ‎hostile American aerial activity which came after “threats by the criminal American president ‎and military commanders" to hit Iranian targets, the statement read.‎

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

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