Who was Responsible for Shooting Down the Ukrainian Airliner?

Three days after Ukrainian passenger plane 752 was shot down outside Tehran, killing all 176 passengers on board, the Revolutionary Guards admitted responsibility, and that they had shot it down with an Iranian missile. But under Iranian law, which institution or organization should have really been in charge of the Islamic Republic’s aviation regulations? And was that governing body aware of what the Guards had done? 

Passenger air travel in Iran is subject to Civil Aviation law, and since 1950, the Ministry of Roads has been responsible for enforcing civilian aviation regulations in the country. An independent agency, the Iran Civil Aviation Organization, was established by the Ministry of Roads, headed by the Deputy Minister of Roads. Under normal peacetime circumstances, the Civil Aviation Organization oversees the implementation of internal regulations and international obligations of the Iranian government as it applies to civil aviation.

If there is a risk of war, military conflict, or foreign aggression, the civil aviation authority should raise this issue with the Minister of Roads at a cabinet meeting.

If, due to military conditions, Iranian or foreign flights are identified as being in danger, closure of all or part of the country's airspace will be considered, with the approval of the cabinet. However, in the case of the downing of the Ukrainian passenger aircraft, the Civil Aviation Organization repeatedly announced for three days that the tragedy was a result of a technical failure.

In other words, the Ministry of Roads and the Civil Aviation Organization were unaware of the main reason for the crash. Hours before the plane was shot down by Revolutionary Guards missiles, it had launched a missile attack on a US airbase in Iraq.

Major General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Aerospace Commander of the Guards, said on the day of the missile attack that it had been expected that the United States would carry out a "counterattack" on Iran, thereby introducing "war conditions" and preparing the country's air defense "at the highest level" of danger and preparedness for response.

The Aerospace Commander had reported that the operator of the rocket launcher, who had shot the passenger plane, had said, "We had repeatedly requested for airspace to be cleared of flights; these requests were made, but some of our dear friends, due to some reason, did not follow [these instructions].”

The body responsible for downing the passenger plane in this situation was the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by the Supreme Commander, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The General Staff should not only have ordered a ban on the departures and arrivals of passenger planes, but even banned all aircraft from crossing Iran's airspace, given that Iranian skies were technically subject to war and this would pose a significant danger to civilian flights and the lives of passengers.

The Supreme National Security Council would have approved the closure of the country's airspace amid serious military danger, following the request to do so by the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The matter was then communicated to the Ministry of Roads and Civil Aviation Organization. The Guards’ missile attack on the US base in Iraq was pre-planned; it was not a sudden decision or an accident. For this reason, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, as the main responsible official in charge, had ample opportunity to order the closure of the airspace and enforce the safety regulations.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces holds responsibility for the matter, and then, after that, the Government of the Islamic Republic is the second authority responsible.

President Hassan Rouhani, who is also chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, was definitely aware of the Guards-led missile attack on the US base, and understood the likelihood of a potential US backlash and its dangers. Rouhani has not claimed that he was unaware of the Guards’ missile attack plan, but has said that he had not been informed of the details of the plane crash during the first three days of the incident.

Furthermore, government officials under his command had also informed the Iraqi government of the Guards’ plan to launch a missile attack on the US base, which meant that the Rouhani government was fully aware of the plan and its dangers to civilian aviation security.

The third level of responsibility lies with the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Command, which deployed its defensive system near the civilian airport. The system was not connected to the country's integrated defense network and was under the direct orders of the Guards.

Given the proximity of the system to the passenger airport and the fact that the airways were open to civilian aircraft, the Guards-led operation was careless and extremely dangerous and negligent — resulting in the death of 176 passengers.

So the deadly incident on January 8 was the responsibility of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Armed Forces, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Command, respectively. These officials must answer to the world — the International Civil Aviation Organization, of course, but also the governments whose citizens were killed in the plane crash, and the families of these victims.

The Iranian Parliament's Research Center has published a report looking into the tragedy. Entitled "Human error in the country's defense system targeting the Ukrainian passenger aircraft," it has so far remained a confidential document and has not been made accessible to the public.