Iranian Foreign Ministry says man who shot down Ukrainian plane in prison

"Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel that the man who mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane outside Tehran on January 8 is now in prison," Mehr News Agency reported.

Asked why it took the Iranian government three days to announce the plane was shot down, Zarif said: “This was a complicated situation in a complicated time. Others needed much more time. Almost 32 years ago, the U.S. shot down an Iranian passenger plane. As of today, they still haven’t issued an official apology. The American officer who was responsible for shooting it down even received a medal. Meanwhile, the Iranian man who shot down the Ukrainian plane is now in prison."

As reported, a Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on Wednesday, January 8. There were 176 people on board – nine crew members (all Ukrainians) and 167 passengers (citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK).

On January 11, Iran admitted that its military had accidentally shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) accepted full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.

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