Lavrov Says Ukrainian Plane Crash In Iran Result Of Human Error

Lavrov Says Ukrainian Plane Crash in Iran Result of Human Error

Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that he agreed with the Iranian authorities' assessment that the tragedy with the Ukrainian plane being shot down in Tehran was the result of human error

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th January, 2020) Acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that he agreed with the Iranian authorities' assessment that the tragedy with the Ukrainian plane being shot down in Tehran was the result of human error.

"It was a human error. In my opinion, everyone has already understood that it was unintentional. This requires compensation; that is the right of the relatives. I think the Iranian side will consider these appeals. They admitted that this happened by mistake," Lavrov said at his annual press conference.

A Kiev-bound Boeing operated by the Ukraine International Airlines crashed on January 8 near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 people on board. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three UK nationals were among the victims. Most of the victims were students.

On Saturday, the Iranian military admitted to unintentionally shooting down the jetliner, having confused it with a hostile cruise missile in anticipation of a US attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kiev expected Tehran to take full responsibility for the accident and all related consequences, including official apologies, the prosecution of those responsible and a transparent investigation.

Continuing the subject of plane crashes, Lavrov recalled that the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which is probing the 2014 downing of Flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine, had accused Russia of shooting the plane down and demanded compensation from Moscow instead of joint cooperation in the investigation.

"Russia does not cooperate because Russia has not pleaded guilty," the acting minister said.

The Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crashed on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine while en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam. All 298 people on board were killed. Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine's Donbas region, where the plane crashed, have exchanged blame for the incident.

According to the JIT, the plane was brought down by a missile that came from the 53rd Anti-aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, based near the Russian city of Kursk.

Moscow has repeatedly denied the JIT's accusations, saying that the claims were unfounded and the investigation biased. President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will recognize the findings only when given access to the probe.