Iran Says It’s U.S.’s Fault They Shot Down Commercial Ukrainian Jetliner

Last week, Iran confessed to shooting down a Ukraine jetliner, killing 176 people and touching off protests in the country over the slaughter. While Iranian leaders admit that the Islamic Republic fired a surface-to-air missile that caused the plane to crash, it suggested that the “root causes” of the devastating event were directly related to moves made by the United States.

According to CBS News, Iran’s president said that President Donald Trump’s decision to attack and kill the country’s top military general, Qassem Soleimani, ultimately resulted in the chain of events that led to the airliner being shot out of the sky.

“It was the U.S. that caused such an incident to take place,” President Hassan Rouhani said.

The Iranian leader said that the country was forced to ramp up their military forces preparing for retaliation from the United States after Tehran implemented a missile attack on U.S. forces in the region.

Shortly after the death of Soleimani, Iran launched a missile attack on several U.S. bases in the Middle East, saying that it was retaliation for the death of the military leader. U.S. forces in Iraq had several hours of warning about the incoming strike, which resulted in no deaths, so Iran said that it was prepared for the U.S. to strike back.

The country launched the missile against the commercial jetliner because they believed that it was an incoming American missile, not realizing that it was a commercial Ukrainian plane. Iran initially denied that it had shot down the airliner, but it was eventually forced to admit to the move after evidence mounted showing the country to be at fault. The country then claimed that the shooting was the result of “human error.”

I don't have any problem believing #Iran pulled the trigger on Flight 752. But we need to take the road less traveled. It's called context. I will go to my grave believing the innocents shot down over #Tehran would be alive today had #Trump not decided to kill the general. pic.twitter.com/H7HfrYAFOQ

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) January 10, 2020

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed a similar opinion as that held by Rouhani. Initially, Trudeau questioned whether the shooting of the plane was truly an accident, as The Inquisitr reported previously.

“And that’s why this first step of admission of responsibility is an important one by Iran but there are many other questions like that one that will need clear answers to in the coming days and weeks,” Trudeau said.

On Tuesday, Trudeau said that the U.S. should share some of the blame for the crash, as the New York Post reported.

“If there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families.”