US security officials told Newsweek that Iranians are believed to have dropped the plane by mistake
Iranian missile launch missile // Photo: IP
Scene of "Ukraine Airlines" plane near Tehran // Photo: IP
Corner in memory of crew killed in crash // Photo: IP
Pentagon officials believe that the Ukrainian plane that crashed near the capital Tehran yesterday, just minutes after being taken off, was knocked down by Iranian air defense systems, Newsweek reported.
According to the report, an interception was made in error, likely due to pressure caused by a fear of a US response to the Iranian missile attack on US bases in Iraq.
It was also reported that the missile that dropped the aircraft was Russia-made and the M-2 column model, an air-ground missile capable of dropping relatively low-flying aircraft. Tonight, it was learned that Ukrainian investigators are looking for Russian missile remains at the scene of a Ukraine Airlines plane crash that crashed shortly after take-off near Tehran, the capital of Iran.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary-general of Ukraine, told Reuters that investigators were investigating several theories that the plane was hit by an anti-aircraft missile.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinsky made a statement on television in his country, claiming that his government was considering some options that could have caused the crash of a passenger plane in Iran last night.
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The Ukraine Airlines' Boeing 737 aircraft reportedly crashed shortly after takeoff, leading to the deaths of 176 people from seven countries. Among those killed were 82 Iranian citizens, 63 Canadian, 11 Ukrainians, ten Swedes, three Germans and three British.
In a televised statement made by President Zalinsky, he declared it January 9 today as a national one. In addition, he asked the people not to succumb to manipulations, speculation, conspiracy theories and reckless assessments when it comes to the plane crash in Tehran.
"Undoubtedly, the first priority for Ukraine is to identify the reasons that led to the plane crash," Zalinsky said, adding that "we will certainly find the truth, for this purpose, a thorough and independent investigation will be conducted in accordance with international law."
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinsky lays flowers in memory of those killed in disaster // Photo: IP
Meanwhile, an internal report by Iranian investigators on behalf of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization was released today claiming the plane caught fire immediately before it crashed southwest of Iran's capital, Tehran. The report is based, in part, on eyewitness quotes that floated from the area as it caught fire before it crashed.
The Ukraine Airlines Boeing aircraft is 3 years old, and its last maintenance treatment was on January 6, just two days before the accident. The report states that the plane encountered a technical glitch shortly after takeoff, and even began to approach a nearby airport before it crashed.
Ukrainian plane crash site // Photo: IP
The technical problem was not described in the report, though a Canadian security official told Reuters that there was evidence that one of the jet's jet engines overheated before it crashed.
Meanwhile, the Al-Arabiya network reported a particularly puzzling Iranian message that the black box of the crashed plane was found, but they do not intend to hand it over to the US airline or Boeing for investigation.
Yesterday, CNN reported that US intelligence agencies had launched an investigation into the plane's crash, suspecting the plane crash was not an accident. The main suspicion is that Iran's defense systems intercepted the passenger plane by mistake, in the wake of recent security tensions in the region, between Tehran and Washington.