Evidence Suggests Iran Shot Down Ukrainian Plane ‘Intentionally’

Rescue workers at the site of the Ukraine plane crash. (AP)
Rescue workers at the site of the Ukraine plane crash. (AP)
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Evidence Suggests Iran Shot Down Ukrainian Plane ‘Intentionally’

Rescue workers at the site of the Ukraine plane crash. (AP)
Rescue workers at the site of the Ukraine plane crash. (AP)

Compelling evidence has surfaced that now suggests the shooting down of Ukrainian Flight 752 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in January 2020 was in no way an error but a premeditated intentional act, reported the King Weekly Sentinel.

Since day one of the crash, Andre Milne with Unicorn Aerospace has been investigating and his evidence is now being used by the Ukrainian Anti-Terrorist prosecutor to determine if there are grounds to take Iran to the World Court for Crimes Against Humanity for shooting down PS752.

Milne calls it a “premeditated” SAM attack on civilian Flight PS752 after takeoff outside Tehran.

The reason? To subvert an inevitable US military counterstrike against Iran by the creation of a spontaneous “human shield” made up of dozens of foreign government officials who all started flying into Iran five hours after the initial IRGC short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) attack on US and Canadian forces in Iraq.

After reading through the final report from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of Iran, Milne discovered evidence that the IRGC deployed Electronic Warfare Jamming Technology in coordination with the TOR M1 Air Defense Unit that fired the two missiles that destroyed PS752.

“The IRGC simultaneously blacked out the broadcast frequencies of PS752’s Satellite GPS Navigation and Emergency Locator Transmitters and continued to jam until the IRGC was able to get to the crash site and physically disable the ELT that started broadcasting signals to the World’s Emergency Satellite Network the second the first missile struck PS752,” Milne said.

Milne has submitted his latest finding direct to the Ukrainian Minister of Justice citing the cockpit voice recording transcripts of both pilots of PS752 becoming alarmed about the loss of GPS navigation immediately “before” they were struck by the IRGC’s first missile.

“As the IRGC have years of experience in coordination of Electronic Warfare Technology when jamming the GPS on ships in the Gulf as part of their organized piracy operations, it is disturbing yet not surprising the IRGC used GPS and Satellite jammers against PS752 during their coordination planning in attacking PS752,” Milne pointed out.

He said four separate flights departing the same airport entered into the 25-kilometer radar detection the perimeter of the missile battery. All civilian airliners transmit transponder signals to identify themselves and Milne noted no fewer than 168 signals were transmitted, detected and identified during this time.

Flight PS752 entered this same perimeter and broadcasted at least 18 signals, and “all would have been detected and identified as all having originated from a civilian airliner” by the Iranian TOR M1 ADU.

Further, he said the Iranians noted that a “ghost detection radar signal” was identified as heading from the southwest towards the IRGC TOR M1 ADU that was deemed as a threat.

Simultaneously, the IRGC claimed the actual PS752 that Milne identifies as ghost 2 was not detected and or tracked as approaching the TOR M1 ADU, and yet the real flight was still targeted and struck with two missiles. This took place all while the same TOR M1 ADU was allegedly trying to track and target the first ghost threat 23 kilometers away in an entirely different direction.

In his findings, Milne pointed out the TOR M1 missile system has two separate radar systems, one for detection and one for targeting.



Iran Hangs 18-Year-Old Over Protests in Latest Wartime Execution, Say Activists

Iranians walk at a park on Nature Day, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranians walk at a park on Nature Day, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Hangs 18-Year-Old Over Protests in Latest Wartime Execution, Say Activists

Iranians walk at a park on Nature Day, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranians walk at a park on Nature Day, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, April 2, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iranian authorities Thursday executed a teenager convicted over January protests after a fast-track trial rights groups labelled as "grossly unfair", as the country ramps up executions during the war with the US and Israel.

Amir Hossein Hatami, 18, was sentenced to death in February along with six others by a Tehran revolutionary court and was hanged at dawn in the notorious Ghezel Hesar prison outside the capital, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website said he acted "against national security" on behalf of Israel and the United States by breaking into "a military center and destroying it in order to seize the weapons stored there" during the protests.

But Amnesty International said it was "outraged by the arbitrary execution of the teenage protester", adding the trial was "grossly unfair" and that he had been sentenced to death less than a month after his arrest.

Hatami is the fourth man to be executed over protests that broke out in Iran in late December against the rising cost of living before evolving into nationwide anti-government demonstrations. The protests peaked on January 8 and 9 and were met with a crackdown that activists say left thousands dead.

On March 19, authorities executed three men convicted of killing police in the protests, including 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi, a wrestler who took part in international competitions.

This week, authorities have hanged four men convicted on charges of rebellion for membership in the banned People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) after their sentences were upheld by the supreme court.

Hatami "was subjected to torture and sentenced based on forced confessions in a grossly unfair trial before the revolutionary Court," said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.

"In the past two weeks alone, three protesters and four political prisoners have been executed, and hundreds more remain at imminent risk," he added. IHR said that just 84 days had elapsed between his arrest and execution.

- 'Tool of repression' -

The seven were accused of setting fire to a base belonging to the Basij militia -- a volunteer force of the Revolutionary Guards -- in Tehran during the protests.

But defense lawyers accused plainclothes forces of trapping protesters inside a building, locking the doors, and themselves starting the fire.

Amnesty International said that the execution showed the judiciary is "a tool of repression sending individuals to the gallows to spread fear and exacting revenge on those demanding fundamental political change".

IHR said the seven men had been convicted in the fast track-trial -- just a month after their arrest -- by the court presided over by the notorious judge Abolqasem Salavati.

Salavati was sanctioned in 2019 by the United States, which said he is known as the "Judge of Death" for his frequent death sentences.

The executions came amid Iran's war with Israel and the United States which erupted on February 28 with strikes that killed the Islamic republic's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

"Hundreds more now face imminent executions in the coming days and weeks," warned Amiry-Moghaddam.


Austria Denies US Use of Airspace for Iran Military Operations

18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
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Austria Denies US Use of Airspace for Iran Military Operations

18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)
18 March 2026, ---: A US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet with the Tomcatters of Strike Fighter Squadron 31 launches from the flight deck of the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in support of Operation Epic Fury. (Navy Handout/US Navy/Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa)

Austria has denied the United States use of its airspace for military operations against Iran due to Austria's neutrality law, the country's defense ‌ministry said ‌on Thursday.

A spokesperson ‌for ⁠the ministry confirmed ⁠a report from Austrian news agency APA that the US had made "several" flyover requests to ⁠Austria, without specifying ‌how ‌many.

All US flyover requests ‌of a military ‌nature relating to the conflict in Iran had been rejected, the spokesperson ‌said.

Austria applies the same principle to ⁠other ⁠countries that are engaged in military conflict, the spokesperson added.

Individual cases were reviewed in consultation with the Austrian foreign ministry, the APA report noted.


Iran Fires on Israel as Trump Claims Threat from Tehran Nearly Eliminated

Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Fires on Israel as Trump Claims Threat from Tehran Nearly Eliminated

Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranian women clad in black chadors wave national flags and hold posters of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (C) and of his late father, former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (R), during the annual Nature Day festival in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)

Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbors even as US President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the US to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Before the US and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.

Iran continues to strike Israel

Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed US military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”

A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by US strikes are “insignificant.”

Just before Trump began his address — in which he said US “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” — explosions were heard in Dubai as air defenses worked to intercept an Iranian missile barrage.

Less than a half-hour after the president was done, Israel said its military was also working to intercept incoming missiles. Sirens sounded in Bahrain immediately after the speech.

Attacks continued across Iran on Thursday, with strikes reported in multiple cities.

Even amid the conflict, families went to a park in Tehran to play games and grill food to mark the last day of Iranian New Year, or Nowruz.

In Lebanon — home to Iran-backed Hezbollah who is fighting Israel, which has launched a ground invasion — an Israeli strike killed four people in the south, the Health Ministry said.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 US service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Nearly three dozen nations talk about securing the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Gulf to the open ocean.

Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.

Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.

The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 countries except the US, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.

Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.

No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”

But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after US and Israeli attacks cease.

The idea of an international effort has echoes of the “coalition of the willing,” led by the UK and France, that was assembled to underpin Ukraine’s security in the event of a ceasefire in that war. The coalition is, in part, an attempt to demonstrate to Washington that Europe is doing more for its own security in the face of frequent criticism from Trump.

Oil prices rise again

The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.

On Thursday, Brent crude, the international standard, rose again and was around $108, up about 50% from Feb. 28.

Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.