A leaked recording obtained by Ukrainian officials suggests the Iranian regime knew almost immediately it had shot down a Ukrainian jetliner on Jan. 8 despite days of denial.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the tape’s authenticity on Sunday, according to the Associated Press. The recording contains a conversation between an Iranian pilot and an Iranian air traffic controller from the night of the incident that killed all 176 people on board Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.
A pilot for Iran’s Aseman Airlines flying from Shiraz to Tehran reported seeing a “series of lights” and a “missile” shot from around Payam Airport, near where the missile that struck the jetliner launched. The controller denied having any knowledge of a missile launch.
“Dear engineer, it was an explosion. We saw a very big light there, I don’t really know what it was,” the pilot said after the controller asked for more details, according to a translation from Farsi made by a Ukrainian television station.
The controller then tried to contact Flight 752 but did not receive an answer.
Iranian officials denied responsibility for downing the jetliner in the days after the accident, initially trying to place the blame on technical problems or the plane’s pilots. The Iranian regime admitted to downing the plane on Jan. 11.
“The recording, indeed, shows that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was shot down by a missile. They were aware of this at the moment of the shooting,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky and other world leaders who lost citizens in the accident have pushed Iran to compensate the families of the victims. Zelensky also pressed Iranian investigators to turn over Flight 752’s black boxes to Ukraine for analysis.
After initially signaling Iran would turn over the black boxes, Iran’s lead investigator into the accident, Hassan Rezaeifar, said his team would keep them for analysis. He also acknowledged the authenticity of the leaked recording.
Iran’s admission of guilt on Jan. 11 sparked backlash from Iranian athletes, actors, and other popular figures as well as anti-government demonstrations by thousands of Iranian citizens. The protesters demanded widespread reforms throughout the government to increase transparency and honesty.
