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Iran’s civil aviation body has blamed a mistake by an air-defense operator for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner last year that killed all 176 people on board.
"The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defense operator...near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it," the Civil Aviation Organization said in its final report into the incident released on March 17.
The flight operation of the Ukrainian plane did not play a role in the crash, the report said.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight was downed by surface-to-air missiles shortly after takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020.