Following the tragic crash of a Boeing 737 Ukrainian airliner in early Wednesday which happened amid missile strikes against US military base and considering the possibility of a military action in the accident, the Armed Forces Staff immediately formed an inspection team independent of Civil Aviation Organization and the detailed results of the team’s review is as follows:
1. Following threats made by the American president and military commanders on attacking targets on the soil of the Islamic Republic in case of Iran’s response, and due to unprecedented movements in the region’s airspace, Iranian Armed Forces were at the utmost level of readiness and alert.
2. Hours after the missile strike operation [of IRGC against US base], aircraft flights of US terrorist forces increased near Iranian borders and also some news of air threats against the country’s strategic centers were delivered to defense units and some targets were seen on radars which caused increased sensitivity in air defenses.
3. In such sensitive and critical conditions, flight No 752 of Ukraine International Airlines departs from Imam Khomeini Airport and while changing direction, it completely resembles a hostile target approaching a sensitive center of IRGC. In these circumstances, due to human error and unintentionally, the plane was targeted which unfortunately led to the martyrdom of a host of dear compatriots and loss of lives of a number of foreign nationals.
4. Offering condolences to the family of victims and expressing apologies over the human error, Iranian Armed Forces Staff assures the nation that it will make re-occurrence of such incidents impossible through conducting fundamental modifications in operations’ processes of the Armed Forces and that it will hand over the culprit to the military court.
5. It was also announced to related officials in IRGC to take to the IRIB and provide the nation with a detailed explanation.
北京时间今天上午，伊朗军方通过国家媒体发表声明，承认1月8日在德黑兰机场附近坠毁的乌克兰国际航空公司波音737-800型飞机系因伊朗武装力量“人为错误”击落。伊朗军方声明陈述了误击事件的背景及过程，具体要点包括：
1.在乌航客机坠毁后，伊朗军方在第一时间（immediately）组建了调查团队，此次声明为军方该团队的调查结果。
2.事件发生时，由于地区局势紧张，伊朗武装力量处于最高戒备状态（at the utmost level of readiness and alert）。
3.在伊朗向位于伊拉克的美军基地发动导弹攻击后数小时，美军空中力量靠近伊朗边境动作增加，伊朗军方收到诸多关于美军可能对伊进行空中打击的警报，伊军雷达监测到更多目标，防空部队更为敏感（increased sensitivity in air defenses）。
4.在此情况下，乌航客机当天从德黑兰霍梅尼国际机场起飞后转向时，接近伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队的一处“高度敏感”设施，被伊防空部队误认为敌对目标而击落。
5.伊朗武装力量对于此次人为错误道歉，并将对相关工作进行改革，以避免发生此类事故。
以下为声明英文版全文：
Following the tragic crash of a Boeing 737 Ukrainian airliner in early Wednesday which happened amid missile strikes against US military base and considering the possibility of a military action in the accident, the Armed Forces Staff immediately formed an inspection team independent of Civil Aviation Organization and the detailed results of the team’s review is as follows:
1. Following threats made by the American president and military commanders on attacking targets on the soil of the Islamic Republic in case of Iran’s response, and due to unprecedented movements in the region’s airspace, Iranian Armed Forces were at the utmost level of readiness and alert.
2. Hours after the missile strike operation [of IRGC against US base], aircraft flights of US terrorist forces increased near Iranian borders and also some news of air threats against the country’s strategic centers were delivered to defense units and some targets were seen on radars which caused increased sensitivity in air defenses.
3. In such sensitive and critical conditions, flight No 752 of Ukraine International Airlines departs from Imam Khomeini Airport and while changing direction, it completely resembles a hostile target approaching a sensitive center of IRGC. In these circumstances, due to human error and unintentionally, the plane was targeted which unfortunately led to the martyrdom of a host of dear compatriots and loss of lives of a number of foreign nationals.
4. Offering condolences to the family of victims and expressing apologies over the human error, Iranian Armed Forces Staff assures the nation that it will make re-occurrence of such incidents impossible through conducting fundamental modifications in operations’ processes of the Armed Forces and that it will hand over the culprit to the military court.
5. It was also announced to related officials in IRGC to take to the IRIB and provide the nation with a detailed explanation.
当地时间1月8日，乌克兰国际航空公司一架波音737型客机从德黑兰霍梅尼国际机场起飞前往乌克兰首都基辅，但起飞不久后坠毁，机上近180人无一生还。
▲伊朗国家电视台报道截图
伊朗军方声明表示，当时该航班离开霍梅尼国际机场时靠近了伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队的一个敏感的军事中心，并“处于敌机的高度”。当时正值轮换，且该中心处于高度警戒状态。在此情况下，飞机因人为失误操作被击中。
▲伊朗军方声明截图
伊朗总统鲁哈尼随后表示，伊朗方面将继续调查这起“巨大的悲剧和不可原谅的错误”。
鲁哈尼在社交媒体上发文表示，“武装部队的内部调查得出结论，令人遗憾的是，由于人为失误发射的导弹导致了可怕的乌克兰客机坠机事件，以及176名无辜者的死亡。调查工作将继续，以查明这一巨大的悲剧和不可原谅的错误。”
伊朗外长扎里夫也在社交媒体上发文致歉。
扎里夫发文表示，“悲伤的一天，伊朗武装部队内部调查的初步结论：美国的冒险主义引发了危机时的人为错误，从而导致了灾难。我们对我们的人民、所有受害者的家庭以及其他受影响的国家表示深切的遗憾，歉意和慰问。”
伊朗方面几天以来一直否认有导弹击落飞机。但随后美国和加拿大方面援引情报称，他们认为伊朗击落了这架飞机。