Rohani Apologizes for Delay in Acknowledging Iran's Mistake in Shooting Down Ukrainian Airplane

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has apologized for the delay in the statement regarding the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airplane by the republic's armed forces, TASS reports.

"I would like to apologize for the delay and our behavior," the president stated. Rohani emphasized that "people need to understand that the security forces are not hiding anything." He added that he is the servant of the people, thus he must speak to the public modestly and sincerely.

According to him, "the judiciary, the armed forces, and the government must unite to conduct an investigation and present its results to the world." He also demanded that Iran's armed forces provide more information regarding the shooting down of the Ukrainian aircraft.

It is noteworthy that shortly after departing from Tehran airport, the Boeing 737-800, which was flying to Kyiv, crashed on January 8. According to official reports, the crash resulted in the deaths of 176 people, including citizens of Iran, Ukraine, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Afghanistan.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani announced on his Twitter account that "the internal investigation of the armed forces has revealed that, unfortunately, missiles fired due to human error led to the terrible disaster of the Ukrainian aircraft and the deaths of 176 innocent people."