On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines 752 crashed. The plane, a Boeing 737-800, was headed from Tehran to Kiev, and had 176 people onboard.
In this post:
Iran changed stance on crash pretty quickly
Immediately following the crash, Iranian authorities claimed that the plane suffered an engine failure, and that was the cause of the crash. As Ali Abedzadeh, Chief of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran, said:
“One thing is for certain, this airplane was not hit by a missile.”
This was suspicious — typically an aviation authority wouldn’t come out immediately after a crash and claim that they know what the cause was, especially since there was no ATC audio or anything else to support that this was the cause.
Not only that, but to explicitly state that the crash wasn’t caused by something is even more suspicious, which made it pretty obvious that this was a cover-up, or something.
Sure enough, a few days later Iran admitted that they shot down the plane. As Iran’s foreign minister explained at the time:
“A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces:
Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster
Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations.”
Iran knew all along they shot down the plane
While Iran at least admitted to what they did a few days after it happened (which is better than not admitting it at all, even if it’s obvious), it sure seemed likely that they knew all along. Well, now we now know that for sure.
Audio has now been released of a conversation between an air traffic controller in the tower at Tehran Khomeini International Airport and the pilot of an Aseman Airlines flight that was flying from Shiraz to Tehran, and witnessed the situation during approach. As reported by Aerotime:
The pilot reported to the tower “flares on route, like a missile” and asked if anything like that was expected. “We were not informed of this,” the controller said, adding “what does this light look like?” The captain answered “that surely is the light from a missile.” Following this brief exchange, the controller tried to hail the flight crew of the Ukrainian flight PS752 multiple times – to no avail.
Seconds later, the pilot reported seeing an explosion.
Here’s the ATC audio, if you’d like to hear it:
This media was released by the Ukrainian media, and Iran’s response has been as follows:
- Iran has confirmed the authenticity of the audio (not that there was much doubt)
- Iran has criticized Ukraine for releasing this audio, threatening not to participate further in the investigation, and saying “this action by the Ukrainians makes us not want to give them any more evidence”
It’s ridiculous if they’re going to continue with this cover-up, threatening not to cooperate if the truth is exposed.
Iranian authorities said that the armed forces were reluctant to report the information about the crash, and allegedly Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened to resign if the armed forces kept leaving him in the dark. We don’t know how true that is, of course, given that they haven’t exactly been honest about everything else.
Bottom line
I don’t think anyone is surprised to hear that the government of Iran knew all along that they shot down the Ukraine 737. Of course we don’t know who exactly in the government knew when, but at some point that’s also not anyone else’s problem.
At this point they’ve answered most questions about why the lies allegedly happened, though I still haven’t seen any explanation of why Iranian authorities immediately claimed that the plane had an engine failure.
Withholding information is bad enough, but outright lying and making something up is even worse, in my opinion.
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
@Ghadir You are downright disgusting! You arabs are full of hatred. And @lucky, the US shot down IR655 flying to Dubai. How long did Iran take to apologize, 3 days, those fat US army americans has not even said ONE word of apology to Iran. Everyone should be on Iran's side right now. Iran is one of the world's best countries and the hatred to Iran is IMMORAL, COMPLETELY UNFAIR and SO UNETHICAL!! I HATE IT!!
Andry,
Can you confirm (with evidence) ANYTHING in that list of bizarre allegations?
How can we criticize this behavior when our own president and his cohorts conduct themselves in the same way. I don’t condone what the Iranians did, but recognize that we have a duty to correct the parallel problem we have in this country by exercising our voting rights.
@dot: if you are referring to the Peter that responded with a statement about seeing if Iran pays up, I don’t think that qualifies him as a “liberal bozo” (I assume you Republicans feel that is some sort of insult rather than just a childish comment). But you on the other hand are proof that education and Republican just don’t mix. Try the use of you’re rather that your. The “deplorables” tag really wasn’t inaccurate, it just wasn’t a smart political move.
Peter your a Liberal BOZO!!!!
I don't understand why people go on whataboutism. Yes, US shot down an Iranian passenger plane before. That does not change the fact that Iran shot down a passenger plane. Trying to minimize Iran's responsibility in it, is actually quite insulting to victims.
Also, US not only apologized but paid millions in reparations for the families on the passengers, and did not try to cover it up. A simply google search would have shown...
I don't understand why people go on whataboutism. Yes, US shot down an Iranian passenger plane before. That does not change the fact that Iran shot down a passenger plane. Trying to minimize Iran's responsibility in it, is actually quite insulting to victims.
Also, US not only apologized but paid millions in reparations for the families on the passengers, and did not try to cover it up. A simply google search would have shown this. People google search pretty much everything Trump says for fact checking, so they can criticize US. But when it come to criticizing Iran, suddenly they don't know how to google.
I don't think you can claim they "knew immediately" based off one pilot's theory, as true as it may ultimately have been. Sure, they would have known well before they ultimately announced it.
I do however find it interesting how the media have called out this lie as a lie but are more reluctant to do the same with the Trump administration.
"Iranian president threatened to resign",
why would he do that when he was the one who threatened to shoot down a civilian airplane just days before the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane.
The plane wasn't just shot down, it was shot down deliberately. And probably even chosen out. Why? Because of the above and the fact that despite them expecting imminent attack from the US the Islamic Republic didn't ground civilian flights. Also there...
"Iranian president threatened to resign",
why would he do that when he was the one who threatened to shoot down a civilian airplane just days before the shooting down of the Ukrainian plane.
The plane wasn't just shot down, it was shot down deliberately. And probably even chosen out. Why? Because of the above and the fact that despite them expecting imminent attack from the US the Islamic Republic didn't ground civilian flights. Also there were supposedly 180 passengers scheduled to be onboard but only 176 victims. The wife of one of the passengers later claimed to have received a phone call from her husband in which he says "4 mysterious" passengers had either been pulled from the plane or denied boarding. No-one knows who those passengers were though the rumour is that one of them was a grand child of the founder of the islamic republic, heading to Canada where most regime officials have their second nationality.
Btw, that poor guy who released the first video of the missile hitting the plane is wanted. Rumor is that he has been arrested already.I can not confirm that.
"Iran"
Its not Iran, its the Islamic republic. There is a difference there. Big one. Just like the Nazi Germany weren't Germany.
Just amazing reading all the comments calling out Iran. The US is one of the most prolific liars regarding government cover ups. Once you actually have a history of being honest, then throw your stones but not before. You actually thought they would come out and admit it at first? Did Russia recently? Just stop with your pathetic anger. This is the way it goes in world politics.
@John K
oh yeah!
we always were dying for a review of the luxury National Express from Heathrow to Gatwick!
Iran is such a dangerous country !! the amount of hate they hold in their hearts towards everyone is very ugly !! I hope everyone boycott them for life !!
Situational bias much?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655
@John K -- There are more trip reports than ever. Just click Travel Reviews at the top of the page. Not hard to find them...
The 2001 movie Swordfish has a lot of great quotes but this is one of the best...
Stanley:
War? Who are we at war with?
Gabriel:
"Anyone who impinges on America's freedom. Terrorist states, Stanley. Someone must bring their war to them. They bomb a church, we bomb ten. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourists, we tactically nuke an entire city. Our job is to make...
The 2001 movie Swordfish has a lot of great quotes but this is one of the best...
Stanley:
War? Who are we at war with?
Gabriel:
"Anyone who impinges on America's freedom. Terrorist states, Stanley. Someone must bring their war to them. They bomb a church, we bomb ten. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourists, we tactically nuke an entire city. Our job is to make terrorism so horrific that it becomes unthinkable to attack Americans."
Lucky, wasnt this the fault of Donald Trump?
The Iranian military was covering up the missile firings from Iranian politicians, including hiding this from the Iranian President for days until the Iranian President threatened to resign if the Iranian military didn’t come clean on this being due to the missile hits.
Obviously, the Iranian military personnel involved in the missile battery operation and the military chain of command knew about what happened very soon after it happened.
I am not sure what any...
The Iranian military was covering up the missile firings from Iranian politicians, including hiding this from the Iranian President for days until the Iranian President threatened to resign if the Iranian military didn’t come clean on this being due to the missile hits.
Obviously, the Iranian military personnel involved in the missile battery operation and the military chain of command knew about what happened very soon after it happened.
I am not sure what any Ukrainian leaking party would hope to achieve by leaking Iranian recordings.
Either way, government military and law enforcement misleading the public about the damage that uniformed forces do against civilians isn’t unique to Iran. It happens too often when law enforcement personnel in the US or India or China or UK or Mexico or Brazil kill unarmed people for whatever excuse gets accepted by some or enough. It happens too often when US, French, Russian, Israeli, Saudi, Emirati, Qatari or Turkish military personnel kill unarmed people in other countries for whatever excuse gets accepted by some or enough and then maybe proclaim “collateral damage” or “the enemy were using human shields”.
People employed by government in and out of uniform, in countries of various sorts, who use state-backed violence against unarmed civilians aren’t all saints who come out and come out immediately to publicly and loudly proclaim the damage done; many such people all around the world engage in evasive maneuvers to try to deflect or deny responsibility, whether it’s to deny it to the world or even to just try to deny it to themselves.
This is by far the worst entry I have seen in this blog.
They mainly blew up their own people, I too was in disbelief they would do something so stupid.
I am not surprised how this unfolded either, we are so desperately wanting somebody or something to blame long before the facts are known.
It is a shame people had to loose their life in this tragedy.
Endre, that's not you paying, that's how he makes money. Big difference.
Politicians lie. Politicians pretending to be religious politicians lie as much if not more. Politicians running around in robes arecthe worst.
People always get the politicians they deserve and mostly elect. The robed guys were welcomed like heroes at the time.
@lucky didnt we tell you this about 2 weeks ago when you parroted CNN and MSNBC to some how blame this on The President of the United States Donald Trump
Am I the only one who gets tired of this content? Where are the trip reports? And to those who cry “YoU dOn’T pAy FoR tHe CoNtEnt” — you are factually wrong. We “pay” by generating traffic.
"....Withholding information is bad enough, but outright lying and making something up is even worse, in my opinion....."
Wait....you sure you aint talking about #IMPOTUS 45 ?? He lies everyday.
Ali Abedzadeh should be the one who should wear the can for this. Not only for the deflection of the blame but even more importantly as head of Civil Aviation he should have grounded all commercial flights. Not apolitical view - fact.
@Jay
I agree. Please see the Turkish Air ad article for more background.
@Will
Of course we don't have to be here but us being here allows Ben to generate revenue for himself. Just because we don't pay to access this site does not mean we are not allowed to voice our displeasure on the contents of this site. I don't pay for facebook, instagram or twitter, with your logic, users don't have any say on what goes on these platform.
@Mike
FORCED.
3. Luckly is forced to fly all over, give him a break.
He is???
Lucky showed us the stats on the 2019 blogs. The trip reports generate no traffic outside the regular readers. The regular readers are not enough traffic to generate the income needed to write up all the amazing trip reports that keep us from coming back. All the blogs that touch politics get way more clicks and brings outside readers to the site. This is where all the money is made (well that and credit card...
Lucky showed us the stats on the 2019 blogs. The trip reports generate no traffic outside the regular readers. The regular readers are not enough traffic to generate the income needed to write up all the amazing trip reports that keep us from coming back. All the blogs that touch politics get way more clicks and brings outside readers to the site. This is where all the money is made (well that and credit card links). I dont like it but we cant get amazing trip reports without these blogs just the nature of how the internet works.
What? The Iranian government lies? Shocking!
@lucky
We do know who in the government knew what when, it has been reported:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/26/world/middleeast/iran-plane-crash-coverup.html
@ Michael Bradley -
You wilting under all this "pressure?" Man up.
Ken and the aptly named Bozo and your ilk -- crawl under a rock after bestowing such praise on Iran.
Enjoy.
I'll share the wisdom others are quick to share whenever there's dissent in the comments....take your pick:
1. You don't have to be here.
2. You pay nothing for this website.
3. Luckly is forced to fly all over, give him a break.
4. Maybe you should go to TPT.
5. Trump.
6. Not-Trump.
Can you please stop making this a politics blog?
It would be nice to have one or two safe spaces from this stuff.
Bozo says:
@Bozo,
The US Navy immediately announced that they were responsible and that it was a mistake. The US government didn't cover up. It paid up.
Big difference between Iran and the US.
OMAAT is turning into a political blog...One Mile At a Time.
@John K -- don't you start! Sensitive issue around these parts.
Neither the video nor the audio support this statement: "Iran knew all along they shot down the plane." There is no causal connection there.
They may have, in fact, known (wouldn't be surprised,) but the video/audio do not prove that.
I miss the trip reports
Wow Americans have so much bias when it comes to Iran... My reading of these is the some lower level people knew and of course the military knew but it was not immediately reported to the government. That created a time lag and a window to make false statements because the government officials were not informed. The reason they immediately disputed missile is because some suggested the possibility because of the tension at the time,...
Wow Americans have so much bias when it comes to Iran... My reading of these is the some lower level people knew and of course the military knew but it was not immediately reported to the government. That created a time lag and a window to make false statements because the government officials were not informed. The reason they immediately disputed missile is because some suggested the possibility because of the tension at the time, probably not because the government knew and wanted to cover up. I would not know for sure but I think it's more likely that he genuinely didn't think it was missile. He even said "why would we shot down an airplane with our own citizens" . I highly doubt he was trying to cover up.
@ Ben -- Trump lied,...not enough space on the internet for the details.
@Bozo Reagan actually did apologize in an interview. It's just not a "formal" apology, as politics go. The US also paid a huge fine with money going to the victims families. Let's see if Iran pays up...
They were bulldozing the site immediately. Of course they were covering.
As has been pointed out by Iran, the man who shot down the Ukrainian airliner is now in prison. The man who shot down Iran Air 655 got a medal and a promotion. Just sayin.....
@CK. Add north Korea, Venezuela , Cuba.. what a wonderful life in some called Utopian states where everyone is happy and have no desires of better life.
and yet people are still foolish in believing Iran when they say they want nuclear energy for "peaceful" purposes.....
Everyone seems to have forgotten about the shooting down of an Iranian airliner 30 years ago by the US when there was no doubt it was a scheduled passenger flight to Dubai. Not a word of apology from the US, yet.
I am no Iran sympathiser but let's not forget history so quickly.
Lying by an evil, despotic dictatorship even when every sane person in the rest of the world knows better??? Shocking. Am I right China? Russia?
The US Postal Service should issue a new postage stamp showing the plane, a missile, and blood pouring out of the plane along with the slogan "Iran Lied, shot down plane".
Iran should pay compensation and a lot of it.