Death toll rises to 13 in Israeli missile strike on Damascus
The death toll from Israeli missile attack last week on Iran's targets in the Syrian capital of Damascus has risen to 13, according to a war monitor.
Days after Iran admitted to shooting down the Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 on board, a person who posted a video online of a missile striking an airliner has been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.
The results of the investigation will be presented to the public, Fars said, without providing additional details, reported Reuters.
On January 8, the Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS75 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran killing 176 people on board.
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Three days later, the Iranian military put out a statement saying that the plane was mistaken for a “hostile target” after it turned toward a “sensitive military centre” of the Revolutionary Guards. It also blamed the “highest level of readiness” resulting from tensions with the United States.
The admission came after Iranian officials vehemently denied claims that they had mistakenly shot the jet and accused the United States of “spreading lies” about intelligence suggesting they did.
President Hassan Rouhani said that the aircraft, which had flown close to a sensitive military site belonging to the elite Revolutionary Guards, was shot down “unintentionally due to human error”.
President Rouhani also offered his apologies and condolences.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had also tweeted his “profound regrets, apologies, and condolences” to the families of the victims.
The crash came hours after Iran launched over a dozen ballistic missiles targeting two bases in Iraq housing US forces in retaliation to the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen Qassim Suleimani.
Tensions between the US and Iran escalated as General Qasem Soleimani was killed along with seven others after Trump ordered an airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the Baghdad International Airport road.
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