Leaked information that Iran knew from the beginning that it had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane
(Baonghean.vn) - A recently leaked audio recording revealed the content of the conversation between an Iranian air traffic controller and a pilot. Accordingly, Iranian authorities immediately knew about the Iranian missile hitting the Ukrainian civilian plane, killing 176 people.
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| The scene of the Ukrainian plane shot down by an Iranian missile on January 8, 2020. Photo: CBS News |
Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky confirmed the authenticity of the recording in a statement on the country's 1+1 TV channel. The head of Iran's investigation team, Hassan Rezaeifar, also acknowledged that the recording was legitimate and had been handed over to Ukrainian officials.
The recording, which was recorded in Farsi, shows an air traffic controller and the pilot of an Iranian Aseman Airlines Fokker 100, flying from Shiraz to Tehran. The pilot reported seeing the flash of a missile from Payam Airport, where the IRGC Tor M-1 missile was launched, and a huge flash that resembled an explosion.
Iranian air traffic controllers then tried unsuccessfully to contact the Ukrainian plane. The recording shows that Aseman Airlines Flight 3768 was close enough to see what happened.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Iranian officials had immediate access to air traffic control recordings, so Iran knew from the beginning that an Iranian missile had shot down the Ukrainian plane.
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| President Zelensky said Iran knew from the beginning that it had mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian plane. Photo: CGTN |
However, when the incident occurred on January 8, the Iranian government for many days claimed that it was unaware that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had shot down the Ukrainian plane. The incident occurred just hours after the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched a ballistic missile attack on a US military base in Iraq.
Ukrainian President Zelensky continues to demand that Iran send the plane's black box to Kiev for decoding - something Iran has promised. However, Iran has so far not sent the black box, instead asking Ukraine to send experts to Iran to decode the black box.
