Iran Issues Report Accepting Responsibility for Plane Downing

Six months after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down near Tehran, the Iran Civil Aviation Organization published an official report accepting responsibility for the incident that caused the death of 176 passengers and crew. The report details “a mistake in the aligning of the radar system … that contributed to misreading the radar’s data,” as well as an operator who “lacked awareness of the relocation of the air defense unit” and fired at the plane without authorization from command center. On January 8, shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, two missiles struck the Boeing 737, killing all on board, among them 167 Ukrainian, Canadian, Swedish and Afghani citizens and nine crew members. After initially denying accusations that missiles targeted the aircraft, the Iranian government was eventually forced to admit blame for the incident. Last week, Sweden announced that an agreement had been reached between Stockholm and Tehran regarding the compensation of families of the foreign victims who perished in the crash, stating that the countries “have signed an agreement of mutual understanding” and “will now negotiate … about amends, compensation to the victims’ next of kin.”