Netanyahu: Iran lied about downed Ukrainian aircraft

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused Iran of lying about the destruction of a Ukrainian civilian aircraft last week.

Iran lied," Netanyahu declared at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday. "Just as they lied about their secret nuclear program, they are lying now about the downing of the Ukrainian aircraft."

They knew from the start that they had downed it. They knew that it was an unintentional downing, but they lied intentionally. They deceived the entire world.

"This is completely contrary to the way that a civilized country should act, and we send our condolences to the victims of Iran's deception and negligence," the prime minister concluded.

Iran admitted on Saturday that its military had accidentally fired a missile at Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on Tuesday night, causing the plane to crash and killing all 176 people on board.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh on Saturday said the plane was downed due to "human error" and that his unit accepts "full responsibility" for the mistake.

Iran initially denied having anything to do with the crash, but US officials said early on that the plane had been shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.