Iran says it "unintentionally" shot down Ukrainian airplane, blames "human error."
The 176 victims onboard the Boeing 737 flight that crashed after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday hailed from various countries. Among the victims were 63 Canadian nationals and 82 Iranians.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard accepted on Saturday it accidentally shot down a Ukrainian International Airlines passenger jet on Wednesday, killing all 176 aboard. The head of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division said his unit accepts "full responsibility."
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said on state TV that forces were on high alert, and that an officer misjudged the plane for a hostile missile and made the "bad decision" to open fire, The Associated Press reported. He said he "wished" he "was dead" when he learned about the downing of the aircraft.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran announced its military "unintentionally" shot down the jetliner and blamed "human error."
The jetliner crashed after Iran launched missile attacks on two Iraqi military bases housing American troops. The strikes were a response to the U.S. air assault that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani days earlier.
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