Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei Expresses Deep Grief over Unintentional Downing of Ukrainian Plane

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei offered condolences to families of victims who were fallen in the Ukrainian plane crash last Wednesday (January 8, 2020).

In a statement on Saturday, the Leader called for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces to continue investigations to identify the possible culpabilities of the tragic unintentional shot of the Ukrainian passenger plane and taking required measures to avert similar incidents.

“The results achieved from the conducted investigations by General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran about the mistaken downing of the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight, besides the probed ‘human error’ as the main cause of the accident, made my grief deeper,” the Supreme Leader said.

“It is essential for me to initially announce my condolences with the families of those killed in the incident and then to issue an order to the General Staff of the Armed Forces for conducting follow up research to designate the probable culpabilities of the disastrous accident,” he added.

“Third, I urge the affiliated organizations and managers to take necessary measures to avert similar accidents to occur in future,” Supreme Leader underlined.

In a statement issued earlier 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.