FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the family of the Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed by an air strike in Baghdad, at his home in Tehran, Iran January 4, 2020. Official President Website/Handout via REUTERS

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran “deeply regrets” the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a tweet on Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake,” he wrote on Twitter. “My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families. I offer my sincerest condolences.”

The investigation will continue, Rouhani wrote in a separate tweet.

All 176 people aboard the airliner were killed in the crash shortly after takeoff.