Dear CCI Friends,
Hajizadeh says air defense system mistook plane for a cruise missile.
‘I wished death’ after realizing Ukrainian passenger plane had been mistakenly shot down: IRGC Aerospace Force Chief
This incident is what our top U.S. specialists in weapons’ delivery systems have been warning us about. Response is now 10 seconds … in which a receiver must “Fire”. No time to check if it is a false alarm … a bizarre cloud formation … or a fluke.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Hajizadeh says air defense system mistook plane for a cruise missile
‘I wished death’ after realizing Ukrainian passenger plane had been mistakenly shot down: IRGC Aerospace Force chief
January 11, 2020
TEHRAN — Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Saturday that he wished he was dead when he heard that his forces have downed a Ukrainian aircraft which crashed near the capital Tehran on Wednesday morning.
“After hearing the news in the country’s west after implementing the military operation against American bases and when I made sure that this incident has happened, I wished I was dead,” said Hajizadeh said a press conference on the Ukrainian plane crash.
“For a lifetime, we put our life on the line for the people, and today we put our honor on the line for God and face the cameras in such difficult circumstances,” he said.
Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility for the incident, saying he had notified related authorities immediately but the public announcement of the matter was pending an investigation by the Armed Forces General Staff as required by existing procedures.