TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2020) The erroneous launch of an Iranian missile that struck a Ukraine International Airlines passenger aircraft on Wednesday was the result of poor coordination with newly installed air defense systems located near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, Abu al-Fadyl Mousavi Beyuki, deputy chairman of Iran's parliamentary committee on urban development, told Sputnik on Monday.
"Before the aircraft took off, the air defense systems were notified once or twice ... However, there was not enough coordination with the newly-installed air defense systems that were installed that night near the Imam Khomeini International Airport, and the error happened because of this," the deputy chairman said.
On Wednesday, a Boeing 737-800 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed soon after departing from Tehran's major international airport at 06:12 local time (02:42 GMT). Citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom were among the 176 passengers and crew who died in the accident.
Iranian officials have expressed regret for the accident, and government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced on Monday that President Hassan Rouhani is following up on a number of issues related to the crash.
