Iran's president says downing Ukrainian plane an "unforgivable error"

Iran will punish all those responsible for the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Tuesday, adding that the "tragic event" would be investigated thoroughly. "It was an unforgivable error ... one person cannot be solely responsible for the plane crash," he said.

"Iranian armed forces admitting their mistake is a good first step ... We should assure people that it will not happen again," he said, adding that his government was "accountable to Iranian and other nations who lost lives in the plane crash". (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Edmund Blair)