Iranian President Rouhani said the shooting of a Ukrainian plane was an unforgivable mistake and would punish those responsible.

"It is an unforgivable mistake. It cannot be just one person responsible for the plane crash," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told state television today. "The Iranian armed forces admit that mistakes are a positive first step. We should assure the people that it will not happen again."

According to Rouhani, the tragedy will be carefully investigated and all those responsible must be punished, adding that his government is responsible for the people of Iran and other countries losing citizens in the accident.

"For our people, it is very important in this matter that anyone who is guilty or careless of any level must face justice. Anyone who should be punished must be punished." ", President Rouhani said.

After the United States used a drone to kill Major General Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds task force, near Baghdad airport on January 3, Iran responded with a series of missiles attacking two bases. US troops were stationed in Iraq 5 days later, but did not cause casualties.

However, a few hours after the raid, a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot a Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Ukraine International Airlines that had just taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, causing all 176 people on board were killed.

The Iranian president once called this a "great tragedy" caused by human error, apologized to the families of the victims and pledged to bring the relevant people to trial before a military court. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said the country did not lie or cover up the incident after Tehran was accused of cleaning up the scene to clear the evidence.