IRGC Aerospace chief elaborates on Ukrainian plane mishap

Head of the Aerospace Division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) referred to the unintentional downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which crashed near the capital Tehran earlier this week, saying that “we assume all responsibilities for the incident.”

“We assume all the responsibility for this incident and will obey whatever decision the authorities take,” Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said in a press conference on Saturday.

He elaborated on the issue, saying that due to the unprecedented tensions in the past week between Iran and the United States and following Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks to a US base in Iraq, all the defense divisions of the country were on full alert.

To boost the offensive and defensive parts, he said, several systems were added to the defensive ring around the capital city of Tehran.

The general noted that the first defensive system, positioned west of Tehran, identified the plane as a “cruise missile”.

“We requested to clear the country’s skies from all flights for several times,” he said.