Tehran, Jan 11 (AFP/APP): The aerospace commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday accepted full responsibility for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet. In remarks aired on state television, Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh said the missile operator who fired on the plane did so independently because of communications “jamming”. It came as Iran acknowledged the Boeing 737 had been shot down, after denying for days Western claims that it was likely to have been brought down by a missile. Here are the main excerpts of his 12-minute explanation: – ’10 seconds to decide’ – – Hajizadeh said he first heard of “the heartbreaking incident” while in the west of the country after Iran fired missiles at US troops hosted at Iraqi bases. – “I take full responsibility and I will obey whatever decision is taken. I would prefer to die rather than witness such an incident.” – “On the night of the incident, at around sunset, the alert level was at war status, the highest level of readiness.” – “At various stages, it was reported… that cruise missiles had been fired towards the country, and at one or two stages it was reiterated again that these (missiles) were … Continue reading In the words of a general: how Iran downed airliner