Iran admits downing airliner with missile Iran

Iran has admitted that its military ‘‘unintentionally’’ shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard, after the government had repeatedly denied Western accusations that it was responsible.

The plane was shot down on Wednesday, hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing United States troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani in an American drone strike in Baghdad.

A military statement carried by state media yesterday said the plane was mistaken for a ‘‘hostile target’’ after it turned towards a ‘‘sensitive military centre’’ of the Revolutionary Guard. The military was at its ‘‘highest level of readiness’’ amid the heightened tensions with the US.

‘‘In such a condition, because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit,’’ the statement said.

The military apologised for the disaster and said it would upgrade its systems to prevent such ‘‘mistakes’’ in the future.

It also said those responsible for the strike on the plane would be prosecuted.

The jet, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines, went down on the outskirts of Tehran shortly after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Iran had denied for several days that a missile caused the crash. But the US and Canada, citing intelligence, said they believed Iran shot down the aircraft.

The plane, en route to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew from several countries, including 82 Iranians, at least 57 Canadians, and 11 Ukrainians, according to officials.

The crash also killed people from Sweden, Afghanistan, the United Kingdom and Germany.

‘‘A sad day,’’ Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted. ‘‘Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster. Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.’’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday became the highest-level US official to directly pin the blame on Iran, after Canadian, Australian and British leaders announced similar intelligence conclusions. ‘‘We do believe it is likely that that plane was shot down by an Iranian missile,’’ he said.

US, Canadian and

British officials said it was ‘‘highly likely’’ that Iran unintentionally shot down the jet with a surfaceto-air missile.

US officials did not say what intelligence they had that pointed to an Iranian missile, believed to have been fired by a Russian Tor system, known to Nato as the SA15.

Canadian

Prime

Minister

Justin Trudeau said: ‘‘We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence.’’

German airline Lufthansa said it and its subsidiaries were cancelling flights to and from Tehran for the next 10 days as a precautionary measure, citing the ‘‘unclear security situation for the airspace around Tehran airport’’. Other airlines have been making changes to avoid Iranian airspace.

Ukrainian investigators are said to be unhappy with the way wreckage from the crash site has been collected. They are especially concerned about the use of bulldozers, which they fear has destroyed key pieces of evidence.

‘‘Because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit.’’ Iranian military statement