What did Khomeini say when the Iranian army ‘accidentally’ targetted the plane
Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while defending his army in the case of the fall of Ukraine’s passenger plane has said that it has maintained Iran’s security.
On January 8, Iran’s army admitted to accidentally killing this Ukrainian plane, in which all 176 people on it were killed.
The Boeing 737–800 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines had flown from Tehran to Ukraine’s capital Keef when it became an accident. People onboard the aircraft included citizens of Iran, Canada, Sweden and Britain.
After the plane fell into the Iranian attack, there were widespread protests in foreign countries and there was pressure on the Iranian government.
But Khamenei tried to garner support for him by defending the Iranian army after offering prayers in Tehran on Friday. He spearheaded Friday Namaz for the first time since 2012.
He said, our enemies were as happy with this accident as we were sad. He was happy that he found an issue to question the Revolutionary Guard and our forces.
His reference to the enemy was towards America and his allies with whom Iran’s conflict began after the death of one of his renowned generals.
The US killed Iran’s Quds Force chief General Qasim Sulemani in a drone strike outside Baghdad Airport in Iraq. In response, Iran launched a missile attack on two US airbases in Iraq.
Hours later, there was news of the fall of Ukraine’s plane. The Iran government had earlier denied having any involvement in it.
But after international pressure, the Revolutionary Guard admitted that the aircraft was mistakenly targeted as a cruise missile.
Ayatollah, 80, addressed the country from the Mosalla Mosque of Tehrani, the capital of Iran. The last time he gave such an address was in 2012 when the 33rd anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution was being celebrated.
Mahdi Khalji, associated with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says that it is a special thing to lead the Jumah prayers and that the Iranian leadership does so only when it wants to convey a particular message.
He says that the prayers of Friday are generally led by the local Maulana of Ayatollah, who is considered proficient in giving a very powerful speech.
Khamenei, along with defending the army there, also said all this:
Criticizing US President Donald Trump’s “devilish” government, calling Trump a “prankster”
Accused the US of lying about the fact that he is with the Iranian people, and said that America would attack him with “poison extinguishers”
Iran’s missile attack on Iraq is “a slap on the face USA”
Quds Force is “a humanitarian organization that believes in human values”, the US considers it a terrorist organization
General Suleimani’s response and the Iranian military counter-attack are “a turning point in history.”
US President Donald Trump has warned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader, to be ‘very cautious’ about his words.
Trump on Friday tweeted, “Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader’ who has not been supreme in recent times has some lousy things about America and Europe. His economy is shattering, his own people are in trouble.” They should be very careful about their words. “
Trump’s tweet came after Khamenei’s Friday speech. In his speech, Khomeini defended his army to ‘accidentally’ kill the passenger plane of Ukraine.
He had said, “Our enemies were as happy as we were sad because of this accident.” He was happy that he found an issue to question the Revolutionary Guard and our forces. ‘’
His reference to the enemy was towards the US and their allies with whom Iran’s conflict began after the death of General Qasim Suleimani.
The US killed General Qasim Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, in a drone strike outside Baghdad Airport in Iraq. Since then, tension has increased in both countries.
According to the report of Iran’s state TV, the army said on Saturday that it had killed the Ukrainian passenger plane by ‘mistake’.
176 people were on board this aircraft. In a statement from Iran, it has been called a ‘human mistake’.
The Boeing 737 flight was of Ukrainian International Airlines. After the flight on Wednesday, it was shot down in the outskirts of Tehran. Iran had a missile attack on US military bases in Iraq and the aircraft was shot down hours later.
Earlier Iran was denying that it had killed the plane. The US and Canada had said on the basis of their intelligence that Iran had killed this aircraft. The plane was going to the capital city of Ukraine. It had 167 passengers and nine crew members. The flight had 82 civilians from Iran, 13 from Canada and 11 from Ukraine.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has tweeted, “Due to human error, the missile was fired on the passenger plane of Ukraine and 176 innocents lost their lives.” Where an investigation is going on for identification of the mistake. Whoever is guilty of this terrible tragedy will not be left out. The Islamic Republic of Iran is deeply sorry for this devastating mistake. My condolences to the suffering families.
How did Iran’s army commit this mistake?
Iran has said that the aircraft unexpectedly took a turn towards a sensitive military base. Earlier, Iran had blamed the technical fault for the plane crash.
The Iranian military has said in its statement, “The aircraft had come close to the base of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. In this situation, a human mistake was made and the plane was killed. “The Revolutionary Guard has said in its statement,” Anything wrong in this will be legal action. The army will comprehensively improve the operation of all armed forces so that such a mistake does not happen again. ‘’
Iran’s military has said in its statement, “After the missile attack on US military bases in Iraq, US military aircraft started flying around Iran’s border. In such a situation, the Iranian army saw a plane coming towards the military base on Ariel. Radar activities had increased in many of Iran’s defence systems. In this situation, Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 flew from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport. After flying, she came close to the IRGC Military Center. In this situation accidentally killed the plane. Due to this mistake, many foreign nationals including Iranians lost their lives.
International pressure on Iran to take responsibility for the fall of this aircraft was increasing. The United States and its allies started saying that according to intelligence information, the aircraft has been a victim of an Iranian missile attack. The suspicion was further heightened because Iran had attacked the US military bases in Iraq with a missile just hours earlier.
According to the news agency, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has said that killing and plunging Ukraine’s plane is a big tragedy and anyone who has made a mistake will not be forgiven.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif has regretted the tweet. In his tweet, he has said, “Very sad.” Initial investigation of the army has revealed that it was a human mistake which occurred in the hour of crisis due to the sadness of America. We apologize for this and our condolences to the people.
Originally published at https://www.mubahisa.in.