Ukraine: Recording Shows Iran Knew Missile Fire Took Down Plane
2020-02-04
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1A newly released recording reportedly shows that Iranian officials knew a missile had brought down a Ukrainian passenger airplane last month.
2The plane crashed shortly after leaving Tehran, killing all 176 people on the jet.
3Sunday night, a Ukrainian television station broadcast what it said was a recording of an exchange between Iranian air traffic controllers and an Iranian pilot.
4Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the authenticity of the recording.
5Iran reacted on Monday.
6The head of the Iranian team investigating the crash, Hassan Razaeifar, said he believed the recording was real.
7He admitted that the recording had been given to Ukrainian officials.
8But he condemned its release to the media, calling the act "unprofessional."
9The Mehr news agency reported that Rezaeifar said the release made Iran not want to give the Ukrainians any more evidence.
10Iran's civilian government denied for days after the January 8 crash that it knew who had shot down the aircraft.
11The aircraft was struck hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles in an attack on Iraqi bases that housed United States forces.
12It was Iran's reaction to an American drone aircraft killing a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad.
13Soleimani was the top general of the Guard's Quds Force.
14The Associated Press notes that the Guard is answerable only to Iran's top religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
15Ukrainian television channel Ukrainian 1+1 published a written version of the recording.
16It contains an exchange between an air-traffic controller and a pilot for Iran's Aseman Airlines.
17His plane reportedly was flying near Tehran at the time of the attack.
18"A series of lights like...yes, it's a missile, is there something?" the pilot calls out to the controller.
19"No, how many miles? Where?" the controller asks.
20The pilot then says, "It is the light of a missile."
21He later says that he saw an explosion.
22"It was an explosion. We saw a very big light there, I don't really know what it was," the pilot goes on to say.
23Publicly available radar information suggests that people on the Aseman Airlines flight were close enough to Tehran to see the explosion.
24For several days, civilian aviation officials in Iran said a missile did not bring down the plane.
25At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. officials said it appeared that the plane had been shot down.
26Ukraine's president told the television station that, "The recording, indeed, shows that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was shot down by a missile."
27Zelensky again asked Iran to send the plane's flight recorders to Kyiv.
28Iranian officials promised to do so last month but have not yet done so.
29On Monday, Ukrainian investigators were to travel to Tehran to take part in the process of decoding the recorders, known as "black boxes."
30Zelensky, however, wants the devices to be brought to Kyiv. "It is very important for us," he said.
31I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1A newly released recording reportedly shows that Iranian officials knew a missile had brought down a Ukrainian passenger airplane last month. The plane crashed shortly after leaving Tehran, killing all 176 people on the jet. 2Sunday night, a Ukrainian television station broadcast what it said was a recording of an exchange between Iranian air traffic controllers and an Iranian pilot. 3Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the authenticity of the recording. 4Iran reacted on Monday. The head of the Iranian team investigating the crash, Hassan Razaeifar, said he believed the recording was real. He admitted that the recording had been given to Ukrainian officials. But he condemned its release to the media, calling the act "unprofessional." 5The Mehr news agency reported that Rezaeifar said the release made Iran not want to give the Ukrainians any more evidence. 6Iran's civilian government denied for days after the January 8 crash that it knew who had shot down the aircraft. The aircraft was struck hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles in an attack on Iraqi bases that housed United States forces. It was Iran's reaction to an American drone aircraft killing a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad. Soleimani was the top general of the Guard's Quds Force. 7The Associated Press notes that the Guard is answerable only to Iran's top religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 8Ukrainian TV publishes recording 9Ukrainian television channel Ukrainian 1+1 published a written version of the recording. It contains an exchange between an air-traffic controller and a pilot for Iran's Aseman Airlines. His plane reportedly was flying near Tehran at the time of the attack. 10"A series of lights like...yes, it's a missile, is there something?" the pilot calls out to the controller. 11"No, how many miles? Where?" the controller asks. 12The pilot then says, "It is the light of a missile." He later says that he saw an explosion. "It was an explosion. We saw a very big light there, I don't really know what it was," the pilot goes on to say. 13Publicly available radar information suggests that people on the Aseman Airlines flight were close enough to Tehran to see the explosion. 14For several days, civilian aviation officials in Iran said a missile did not bring down the plane. At the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. officials said it appeared that the plane had been shot down. 15Ukraine's president told the television station that, "The recording, indeed, shows that the Iranian side knew from the start that our plane was shot down by a missile." 16Zelensky again asked Iran to send the plane's flight recorders to Kyiv. Iranian officials promised to do so last month but have not yet done so. 17On Monday, Ukrainian investigators were to travel to Tehran to take part in the process of decoding the recorders, known as "black boxes." Zelensky, however, wants the devices to be brought to Kyiv. "It is very important for us," he said. 18I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 19Mario Ritter Jr. adapted this Associated Press story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 20________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22authenticity - n. something that is not a reproduction or a copy 23channel - n. a television or radio station 24mile - n. a form of measurement equal to 1.6 kilometers 25decode - v. to discover the meaning of information provided