The civil aviation authority in Iran has confirmed two missiles were fired at a Ukrainian airliner that was brought down earlier this month. Investigators discovered that “two Tor-M1 missiles… were fired at the aircraft,” the authority said in a preliminary report posted on its website late on Monday.
An investigation is ongoing to assess the bearing their impact had on the accident. The statement confirms a report in The New York Times which included video footage appearing to show two projectiles being fired at the airliner.
The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines plane was shot down in error shortly after takeoff from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board. Iran initially denied claims that the plane had been shot down.
The Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility, but said the missile operator who opened fire had been acting independently, AFP reported.