File photo: People place candles as they commemorate victims of the Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 plane disaster, in front of the Iranian embassy in Kiev, Ukraine February 17, 2020blamed a misaligned radar system for its shooting down of a passenger flight in January.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight with a ground-to-air missile on January 8 shortly after the plane took off from Tehran, in what Tehran later acknowledged as a "disastrous mistake" by forces who were on high alert during a confrontation with the United States.
The downing occurred at a time of high tension between longtime foes Iran and the United States. Iran was on alert for attacks after it fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the killing on Jan. 3 of its most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. missile strike at Baghdad airport.