TEHRAN – An informed official close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said on Sunday that Ukraine has tried to politicize the January 2020 accidental downing of its passenger plane near Tehran in an attempt to intensify pressure on Russia amid tensions between the two neighboring countries.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Nour News that Ukrainian officials had offered that Iran announce a technical glitch in its Russian-made Tor-M1 anti-aircraft defense system as the cause of the tragedy.

However, Iran rejected the proposal as it contrasted the reality and after which Ukraine pursued the path of politicizing the issue, he added, according to Press TV.

He also highlighted Iran’s firm resolve to create transparency about all aspects of the incident, emphasizing that any politically motivated attempt to exploit the downing is inhuman and contrary to legal and technical procedures.

On January 8, 2020, the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, which was flying from Tehran to Kiev, crashed minutes after takeoff near Tehran, killing all the 176 on board, mostly Iranians.

The plane was shot down by Iran’s air defense. It was mistaken for an invading missile. The tragic incident happened on the same night that Iran had showered a U.S. airbase with ballistic missiles in western Iraq in retaliation for U.S. the assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani five days earlier.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the security official explained that Kiev also wanted to evade accusations regarding its role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

Therefore, he said, Ukraine sought to blame both the MH17 and PS752 crashes on a problem in the Tor-M1 battery.

The official further stressed that Ukraine wanted to increase pressure on Russia amid the conflict over Crimea.