Aircraft parts from the wreckage of a Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, which crashed shortly after takeoff lie on the ground near Shahedshahr, Iran, on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's military early Saturday morning announced its role in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet that killed all 176 people on board, saying the shootdown was "unintentional" and blaming "human error."

The Boeing 737-800 airliner, Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, crashed five minutes after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday Jan. 8, just hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at two military bases in Iraq. The attacks on the bases, which housed American forces, were in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani the previous week. Those attacks caused no casualties.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani took to Twitter to call the crash a "great tragedy" and "unforgivable mistake."

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"Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people," Rouhani's tweet said. "Investigations continue to identify & prosecute this great tragedy & unforgivable mistake."

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif blamed America's actions for the "human error," writing on Twitter that Iran's armed forces concluded that "human error at time of crisis caused by U.S. adventurism led to disaster."

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Iran's statement stressed that the error occurred during very high tensions with the U.S.

"After the threat of U.S. president and commanders of attacking several important places in our soil and the movement of U.S. planes in the region we were at the highest alert," an English translation of the armed forces' statement read.

"After the attacks the flights of U.S. planes increased in the region and reports came in from strategic centers and many targets were visible in the radar," the statement went on. "In this sensitive moment the Ukrainian plane while approaching an IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) base was shot down after the plane's unexpected and sharp turn, leading to the martyrdom of several of our fellow citizens and foreign nationals."

The statement added that the person responsible for the shootdown of PS752 would face legal consequences, and that the military will undertake "major reform in operations of all armed forces" to ensure such "human errors" would not happen again. The Revolutionary Guard Corps has also been ordered to give a full public explanation.

A senior Revolutionary Guards commander later appeared on state TV Saturday explaining that the plane had been mistaken for a cruise missile.