By akademiotoelektronik, 02/01/2023

Ukrainian Boeing 737 crash: Iran admits having shot down the plane and speaks of "unforgivable mistake"

The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces acknowledged this Saturday, January 11 that a "human error" was at the origin of the disaster of the Boeing 737 of Ukrainian Airlines. The aircraft, in which 176 people were killed, was mistaken for a "hostile aircraft" and was "hit" while enemy threats were at the highest level, can we read in this press release published by the agency official Irna. Iran "deeply" regrets the crash, "a great tragedy and an unforgivable mistake," said Iranian President Hassan Rohani. "The armed forces' internal investigation concluded that regrettably missiles launched by mistake caused the crash of the Ukrainian plane and the death of 176 innocent people", estimated Rouhani on Twitter, adding that "the investigations continue to identify and bring to justice", the officials

The disaster, which killed 176 people, mostly Iranians and Canadians, took place shortly after the plane took off from Tehran International Airport. The crash took place a few hours after the firing of several Iranian missiles targeting two bases hosting American soldiers in Iraq, in reaction to the death of Iranian general Soleimani a few days earlier in an American strike. “All Iranian anti-aircraft defense had to be on hot coals” awaiting a possible American response, argues a French expert.

'Human error in times of crisis caused by American adventurism'

'Human error in times of crisis caused by American adventurism led to disaster,' tweeted the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Precedents exist. On July 3, 1988, an Airbus of the national company Iran Air was shot down by two missiles from an American cruiser patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, which had taken it for an Iranian fighter with hostile intentions. As early as Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the plane had been shot down by an Iranian missile. "We have information from multiple sources, including our allies and our own services", which indicate that the plane was shot down "by an Iranian surface-to-air missile", he assured at a press conference. . "Maybe it wasn't intentional," he adds.

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Washington and London abounded. Donald Trump mentioned his "doubts" on the thesis of a mechanical problem. "I have a feeling something terrible happened," he said, citing a possible "mistake." A "set of information" suggests that the Ukrainian Boeing 737 was "shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile", also said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The same day, about fifty Ukrainian experts arrived in Tehran to participate in the investigation and in particular in the decryption of the black boxes of the device.

Clues and a video posted on social networks

If none of these politicians reveal evidence to support their statements, images that are difficult to authenticate are circulating on the web at support for their thesis. A 20-second video, apparently showing the moment a missile hits the aircraft, is widely circulated on social media. It shows a luminous object climbing rapidly towards the sky and hitting what appears to be an airplane.

On social networks are also relayed photos of fragments of a Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile (SA-15 Gauntlet for NATO), a Russian-made mobile air defense system designed to fight against aircraft low-flying helicopters or drones. Tehran bought 29 Tor-M1 systems from Moscow in the 2000s. The fact that the plane did not explode is not contradictory with a missile launch, several specialists then point out. "At this altitude, the aircraft is not yet pressurized, there may be holes in the cabin without it exploding. What causes the explosion is the pressurization", underlines a French missile expert.