Under pressure, Iran admits it shot down jetliner by mistake

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on Saturday acknowledged that it accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 people aboard, after the government had repeatedly denied Western accusations and mounting evidence that it was responsible.

The plane was shot down early Wednesday, hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing US troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike in Baghdad.

No one was hurt in the attack on the US bases.

The admission raised a host of new questions, such as who authorised the strike on the plane and why Iran did not shut down its international airport or airspace when it was bracing for a US reprisal.

It also undermined the credibility of information provided by senior officials, who for three days had adamantly dismissed allegations of a missile strike as Western propaganda.

Iran’s acknowledgement also alters the narrative around its confrontation with the US in a way that could anger the Iranian public.

Iran had promised harsh revenge after Soleimani’s death, but instead of killing American soldiers, its forces downed a civilian plane in which most passengers were Iranian and none survived.

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