Downing Ukrainian plane in Jan 2020 was human error, not system malfunction

In an interview with Iranian television late on Monday, Eftekhari said that it was not possible for the operator of the system at night to distinguish whether the Ukrainian aircraft was an airliner or a military plane.

Tensions escalated in the region after the United States assassinated the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and former commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes along with their companions by targeting their vehicles outside Baghdad International Airport on 3 January 2020 at the direct order from former US President Donald Trump. Amid heightened tension, IRGC Aviation accidentally shot down a Ukrainian plane near Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) on January 8, 2020, mistaking it for a missile.

Ukraine's passenger plane was reportedly moving very close to a sensitive military location belonging to the IRGC. All 176 aboard the plane were killed.

Eftekhari added that the case of the Ukrainian plane had complicated and numerous technical aspects.

He added that there were several errors in the process of the downing of the plane, adding that during the investigation it became clear that Iran's air defense system was not defective.

On Sunday, a military court in Iran delivered a verdict to those who were involved in the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane in 2020.

The news service of Iran’s judiciary said that the verdict was announced after making a full examination of the case and after holding 20 court hearings.

According to the report, the trial has been one of the most complicated judicial procedures in Iran in recent years. 

The suspects in the case were military officers working at an Iranian defense system command at the time the plane was shot down.