Iran admits its rocket shot down PS752... "but Trump!"

Iran's president has finally acknowledged what Walt and almost everyone else have suspected from the getgo. It was indeed an Iranian missile that downed Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 on Wednesday, killing all 176 people (mostly ethnic Persians) on board.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake," Hassan Rouhani said late Friday in a post on Twitter. "My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences." Walt's lifetime pct .984.

Iran announced Saturday that its military "unintentionally" shot down the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard, after the government had repeatedly denied Western accusations that it was responsible. The plane was shot down early Wednesday, hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing American troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike in Baghdad. No one was wounded in the attack on the bases.

A military statement carried by state media said the plane was mistaken for a "hostile target" after it turned toward a "sensitive military centre" of the Revolutionary Guard. The military was at its "highest level of readiness," it said, amid the heightened tensions with the United States. An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said his unit accepts "full responsibility" for what happened. In an address broadcast by state TV on Saturday, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that when he learned about the downing of the plane, "I wished I were dead." Walt thinks that can probably be arranged.

But the responsibility is not that of Gen. Hajizadeh alone, nor even that of the mad mullahs who form the government of the Islamic Republic. The "heightened tensions", we are asked to believe, were caused by the assassination of Gen. Soleimani, the mastermind behind Islamic terrorism that has plagued the Middle East sandpit for years and caused 1000s of deaths to Muslims and infidels alike. And who ordered Soleimani's assassination? Why, Still-President Trump, of course!

"In such a condition, because of human error and in a unintentional way, the flight was hit," the military said. It apologized and said it would upgrade its systems to prevent future tragedies. For its part, the Iranian government, through its foreign minister, expressed "profound regret" for the "incident". So that's all right then.

Credit where credit is due Dept.: Meme scraped from Blazing Cat Fur.