On the anniversary of a crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the US adventurism in the region led to the tragic incident, pledging a harsh revenge against enemies. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the IRGC remembered the Iranians who were killed onboard a Ukrainian plane that was mistakenly shot down in Iran’s airspace in January 2020 shortly after the aircraft’s takeoff en route to Kiev.

It said the crash of the Ukrainian passenger plane, which occurred after the US adventurism and its terrorist crime of assassinating Iran’s top anti-terror commander and the subsequent IRGC missile strike on the terrorists’ Ain al-Assad base in Iraq, had left the Iranian nation completely bereft.

“The heavy burden of parting with the dear children of Iran is very hard and poignant, and this is a bitter incident that took place in the wake of the US’ inhumane acts of adventurism and terrorist acts in the region,” the statement said, adding, “It once again proved the zenith of malice and spite of global arrogance against the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran.”

While sympathizing with bereaved families of the victims, and emphasizing on using the reports of specialized committees to prevent occurrence of similar accidents, the IRGC pledged a “harsh revenge” against “hostilities and conspiracies of the global arrogance.”

The Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, en route to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed minutes after takeoff near capital Tehran, killing all the 176 on board.

Iranian authorities say the Ukrainian airliner had been mistaken with a cruise missile when it was shot down southwest of Tehran.

The incident happened at a time when the Islamic Republic’s air defense systems were at the highest possible level of alert following the United States’ earlier assassination of prominent Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in neighboring Iraq.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani asserted on Wednesday that all those culpable of dereliction of duty in last year’s mistaken downing of the Ukrainian airliner have to face trial.

“We said [this] from day one that all those responsible for the incident should be tried justly at a court,” Rouhani said, addressing a government meeting in Tehran.

“Today too, we [still] lay emphasis [on the same imperative] and the Judiciary will surely make this happen,” he added.