Four days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, destined for Kyiv, Ukraine, was shot down, Iran has admitted it was their fault. Initially, they had claimed it was mechanical error or some other issue unrelated to their government. But when shown evidence to the contrary, they admitted that they had brought down the airliner with a missile.
The Washington Post is reporting that this admission has led to calls for a full investigation in Tehran, and for those who made this fateful decision to face charges.
Iranian officials claim that the jet made a sharp turn towards a "sensitive military site," and that is what prompted their response. This happened during the same few hours when Iran was firing missiles at two U.S. military bases, so they may have mistaken the airliner for a U.S. aircraft or missile.
The blame should lie squarely with Donald Trump and his "military adventurism," as Joy Ann Reid pointed out on AM Joy on Saturday morning. Were it not for his stupidity and impulsiveness, Iran would not have been on high alert.
No Americans were on the flight. Passengers were primarily Iranian, Canadian and Ukranian.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted that “Human error at time of crisis caused by U.S. adventurism led to disaster,” adding a red broken-heart emoji.
Yes, we are back to tweeting official government statements.
Iran's authorities said that the "communication system was disrupted," and that the operator "had 10 seconds to decide whether to shoot or not.”
