ERBIL — The military prosecutor for Tehran province said on Monday that the shooting down of the Ukrainian passenger plane in January was the result of a human error.
Tasnim News Agency cited Gholam Abbas Torki, the military prosecutor, as saying that a human error was the cause of the catastrophe not an order from senior military commanders.
Torki further explained that the investigations indicated that there was no cyber attack on Iran’s missile or air defence systems.
The operator of the air defence system should have received orders from his superiors before firing two missiles at the airliner, Torki added.
“Twenty six seconds passed between the first and second firing but unfortunately during this time the operator also did not get permission for the second firing from the network.”
The shooting down of the Ukrainian passenger killed 176 people aboard and put Iran in a difficult situation at a time of heightening tensions with the US.
According to the prosecutor, the black boxes of the airliner have been physically damaged and reading them is technically complicated.