On January 8, a civilian Ukrainian passenger plane was hit by a missile, killing all 176 on board. At the time, Iran denied for days knowing anything about the shocking event, but eventually, the Islamic Republic admitted that it was one of their missiles that destroyed the plane. Now, new leaked audio allegedly reveals that Iranian authorities knew right away that their missile had downed the aircraft.
According to AP News, the plane was lifting off from an airport in Tehran before it was accidentally hit by a missile. Initially, Iranian officials said that it wasn't a missile that brought down the plane, insisting that they didn't know that the Revolutionary Guard had shot down the plane and suggesting it could have been an explosion on the aircraft.
It wasn't until a few days later that the country was forced to admit to the mistake after some U.S. leaders and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that they believed the aircraft had been shot down.
The leaked recordings allegedly reveal an exchange between the pilot and an air traffic controller in which the pilot clearly indicates that he believes a missile may be headed toward the plane
"A series of lights like... yes, it is a missile, is there something?" the pilot asked. "It is the light of a missile."
The pilot confirmed that it saw the lights emerging from Payam Airport, where the missile was ultimately determined to have launched from.
"Dear engineer, it was an explosion. We saw a very big light there, I don't really know what it was," the pilot says.
At that point, the air traffic controllers lost contact with the jetliner.
