KABUL - Meshrano Jirga members on Sunday asked Iran to stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal matters and seek apology over the killing of Afghans in the Ukrainian plane shooting.
Iran maintained for days that there was no evidence that one of its missiles had struck a Boeing 737-800 minutes after it took off from Tehran on Wednesday with 176 people on board, but admitted early on Saturday that its military had shot down the passenger jet by mistake.
The military blamed human error. In a statement, it said Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 had taken a sharp, unexpected turn that brought it near a sensitive military base. Hours later, though, an Iranian official walked back that claim.
In a post on Twitter, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohamad Javad Zarif, apologized but appeared to also blame American “adventurism” for the tragedy, writing: “Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.”
President Hassan Rouhani said on Twitter that Iran “deeply regrets this disastrous mistake.”
The Ukrainian airliner burst into flames shortly after take-off from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard, including 10 Afghan nationals.
Meshrano Jirga member Haseebullah Kalimzai criticized the Iranian military for what he said their unprofessional action and said: “Iranian government should formally seek apology from the government of Afghanistan and family members of the victims and pay blood money in line with international principles,” he said.
He asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate family members of the victims in coordination with Iranian authorities so they could bring back the corpses of their relatives.
Senator Mualvi Attaullah Lodin condemned the shooting of Ukrainian plane by Iranian military and termed it a huge catastrophe.
Lawmaker Anar Kali Hunaryar said the Iranian military had not committed a human error but a massive crime.
She said the Iranian Air Chief had asked the Afghan government to expel American troops from Afghanistan otherwise Iran would force Afghanistan to doi so.
“I believe this is a clear interference in internal matters of Afghanistan by Iranian authorities,” she said. (Pajhwok)