Raisi on Saturday offered his condolences over the deadly crash of the Ukrainian plane near the capital and instructed that perpetrators of this incident be identified as soon as possible.
The Judiciary chief ordered the head of the Armed Forces’ Judiciary Organization to gather needed documentation and take judicial actions related to “the sad incident”.
Earlier, the country’s Prosecutor General had issued the same order and called for immediate prosecution of the culprits.
The official said the move is aimed at preventing any possible damage to the flight recorder.
“We used all our facilities to assess the black box; however, as the crashed plane is a modern Boeing aircraft, Iran does not have the technology to download data from its black box and decoding data on the black box might harm it,” said the director general of the Accidents Office of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
“We asked five countries, including Ukraine, Sweden, Britain, Canada and the United States, to download data on the black box in a prestigious and neutral laboratory in the world,” the official added.
“The final suggestion was that France be selected as the country, and all five countries agreed that the black box be decoded in France,” the official added.
This comes as the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces has, in a statement, admitted that the Kiev-bound plane had been unintentionally and mistakenly shot down by Iranian air defence systems.
The plane crashed outside Tehran shortly after takeoff last Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board.
The accidental downing of the airplane occurred hours after the IRGC launched missiles at a US base in Iraq, and was at highest alert following the attacks.
The sultan deposed his father in a bloodless coup with British support in 1970 and set Oman on a path to development, using its oil wealth.
Widely regarded as popular, he was also an absolute monarch and any dissenting voices were silenced.
No cause of death has been confirmed. His cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said has sworn in as his successor.
The former culture and heritage minister took the oath of office on Saturday after a meeting of the Royal Family Council, the government said.
The sultan is the paramount decision-maker in Oman. He also holds the positions of prime minister, supreme commander of the armed forces, minister of defence, minister of finance and minister of foreign affairs.
Last month Sultan Qaboos – who had no heir or designated successor – spent a week in Belgium for medical treatment, and there were reports he was suffering from cancer.
“With great sorrow and deep sadness… the royal court mourns His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who passed away on Friday,” a court statement said earlier, announcing three days of national mourning.
Images showed a crowed of men gathered outside the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the capital, Muscat, where the casket had been taken and prayers were being held.
Fars News Agency reported on Saturday that Ayatollah Khamenei has been notified on Friday morning of the real cause of a January 8 crash of a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran, after the Iranian top military commanders became confident of a human error in downing of the passenger plane.
Immediately after being informed about the disastrous mistake from the Iranian air defence in the accident, the Leader ordered an extraordinary meeting of the Supreme National Security Council on Friday noon to examine the issues, and emphasized that right after conclusion of the session, “the truth behind the accident and the results of the investigation must be reported to the public explicitly and candidly by the relevant organizations,” the report added.
It was after Ayatollah Khamenei’s order that the Supreme National Security Council convened again on Friday night, which resulted in the Saturday morning statements by the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and the president.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces admitted in a statement this morning that its air defence system has “unintentionally” hit the Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed near Tehran early Wednesday, killing all the 176 people on board.
Human Error Behind Plane Shoot-Down Caused by US Adventurism: Zarif
Mohammad Javad Zarif said the human error that resulted in the tragic incident had been caused by Washington’s “adventurism”.
“Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster,” Zarif tweeted.
He further condoled with bereaved families of victims.
“Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations,” he further said in his tweet.
His comments came after the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, in a statement, admitted that the plane had been unintentionally and mistakenly shot down by Iranian air defence systems.
The Ukrainian plane bound for Kiev crashed outside Tehran shortly after takeoff last Wednesday.
All 176 people on the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight died in the incident.
The accidental shoot-down came hours after the IRGC launched missiles at a US base in Iraq, and was at highest alert following the attacks.
The full text of the statement follows.
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,
We belong to Allah and to Him we shall be returned
Dear Iranian nation,
With a heavy heart full of sorrow, I learned hours ago about the findings of the investigation team of the General Staff of the Armed Forces about the crash of the Ukrainian passenger plane.
At a time when we faced threats and intimidation by the aggressive US regime against the Iranian nation after the martyrdom of General Soleimani, and in order to defend the country against possible attacks by the US military, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran were on full alert, and unfortunately, human error and shooting by mistake led to a major disaster in which dozens of innocent people lost their lives.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is deeply saddened over this disastrous error, and I, on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, express heartfelt condolences to the families of victims of this painful disaster, and order all pertinent institutions to adopt all necessary measures to compensate and condole with the families.
Moreover, while expressing deep sorrow, I extend condolences on behalf of the Iranian government to the nations, governments and families of non-Iranian victims. The [Iranian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs will offer full consular cooperation in order to identify and return the bodies of victims to their families.
This sorrowful incident is not an issue which can be easily condoned. Complementary investigations should be conducted to identify all causes and all those behind this disaster, and those who caused this unforgivable error must be prosecuted and the results should be announced to the noble Iranian nation and families of victims accordingly.
Also, it is required that necessary measures be adopted to remove the weak points of the country’s air defence systems, so that similar disasters will never ever happen again.
Once again I express condolences to the families of victims of this sorrowful incident and ask God Almighty to forgive the deceased and grant forbearance and divine reward to their families.
Hassan Rouhani
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
According to the statement, the Ukrainian flight PS572 was approaching a site belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and had taken the shape of a hostile aircraft at that night, when a few hours had just passed since Iran’s missile attacks on a US base in Iraq.
What follows is the full text of the statement released early Saturday:
“To the honourable and revolutionary nation of the Islamic Iran:
Following the tragic crash of a Boeing 737 passenger plane operated by a Ukrainian airline in the early hours of Wednesday, January 8, 2020, and in the middle of [IRGC’s] missile attack on the military base of the criminal US, and considering the possible impact of this military action on the incident, the General Staff of the Armed Forces immediately formed an inspection board composed of technical and operation experts, independent of the country’s Aviation Organization, in order to consider that possibility. The results of nonstop and accurate investigations of the board are as follows:
1- Following the threats made by the president and military commanders of the criminal United States to target many positions inside the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran in case of a reciprocal operation [by Iran], and considering the unprecedented increase in aerial moves in the region, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran were at the highest level of standby in order to [be able to] respond to possible threats.
2- In early hours after the missile attack [on US’ Ain al-Assad base in Iraq], the military flights of the US’ terrorist forces had increased around the country. The Iranian defence units received news of witnessing flying targets moving towards Iran’s strategic centres, and then several targets were observed in some [Iranian] radars, which incited further sensitivity at the Air Defence units.
3- Under such sensitive and critical circumstances, the Ukrainian airline’s Flight PS752 took off from Imam Khomeini Airport, and when turning around, it approached a sensitive military site of the IRGC, taking the shape and altitude of a hostile target. In such conditions, due to human error and in an unintentional move, the airplane was hit [by the Air Defence], which caused the martyrdom of a number of our compatriots and the deaths of several foreign nationals.
4- The General Staff of the Armed Forces offers condolences and expresses sympathy with the bereaved families of the Iranian and foreign victims, and apologizes for the human error. It also gives full assurances that it will make major revision in the operational procedures of its armed forces in order to make impossible the recurrence of such errors. It will also immediately hand over the culprits to the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces for prosecution.
5- The relevant authorities at the IRGC were also instructed to appear on state TV and give detailed explanation of the incident as soon as possible.
IRGC Releases Details of Accidental Downing of Ukrainian Plane
Speaking at press conference on Friday, Ali Abedzadeh said if the US politicians have really obtained evidence of their claims about the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane that crashed near Tehran, they are obligated to make them public through the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO.
“Such announcement must be easily accessible to the world on the websites,” the Iranian official noted.
He also challenged the US authorities to make their findings with “scientific and technical grounds” widely known under the ICAO Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
Abedzadeh also explained that any comments about the cause of the accident before the analysis of the doomed plane’s flight recorders would have no basis in fact, adding, “What we are quite definite about and we can declare with confidence is that no missile has hit the plane.”
He said the passenger plane had been flying with a fire for more than 1.5 minutes, and the location of the aircraft indicates that the pilot had decided to return to the airport shortly after takeoff.
The Iranian official also noted that the Ukrainian operator of the flight is responsible to pay the compensation for the accident.
Abedzadeh finally described the crash as a major and deadly accident, saying the investigation could take up to two years and analyzing the flight recorder data would also need one or two months.
On Wednesday morning, a Boeing 737 plane operated by Ukraine International Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in southwest Tehran, killing all 179 people on board, including 147 Iranians.
“Based on arrangements made between the foreign ministries of Iran and Canada, a 10-member Canadian delegation is heading to Iran in order to deal with the Canadian victims of the regrettable crash of the Ukrainian plane,” Mousavi said on Friday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will make every effort to facilitate the work of countries whose nationals have been hit by this tragic incident,” the spokesman noted.
“The results of technical investigations will be transparently publicized once completed according to the ICAO regulations and in cooperation with the representatives of Ukraine, Boeing, and supervising experts from other countries affected,” he added.
In a telephone conversation with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, Brigadier General Hatami slammed the US presence in the region as the root cause of tensions and instability.
“In order to resolve the tensions and create stability and security in the region, the American occupier-style and interventionist presence must end as soon as possible,” the Iranian defence minister underlined.
He also denounced the US assassination of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani on the soil of another country as a serious and unprecedented crime, adding, “According to a clear resolution of the United Nations Security Council, the US measure is a blatant example of state-sponsored terrorism.”
As the largest littoral country in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea region, Iran has always played its role in ensuring security of the regional waters, the Iranian minister added, noting, “The parties intending to help de-escalate the tensions and create stability in the region must remind the Americans, who are the cause of insecurity in the region, that they should leave the region in order to establish stability and calm.”
Hatami finally called on all independent and free countries in the world to condemn the US government’s terrorist activities.
The Japanese minister of defence, for his part, expressed Japan’s readiness to play a role in de-escalation of tension and establishment of peace and stability in the region.
Kono also reiterated that Japan has decided not to take part in the US-led military coalitions in the region.
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