TEHRAN: Iran has sentenced 10 members of the armed forces to prison after finding them guilty of involvement in the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported Sunday.

Iranian forces shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. Most were Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.

Mizan reported that a commander received the heaviest penalty of 10 years in prison for having defied orders in shooting down the plane.

Nine other personnel were sentenced to between one and three years, Mizan reported.

The commander of a Tor M-1 surface-to-air missile system “fired two missiles” at the airliner “contrary to orders” and without obtaining authorisation, Mizan said.

It did not identify any of the accused.

Three days after the Kyiv-bound plane was shot down, the Iranian armed forces admitted there had been a “mistake”.

“Given the extent of the effects and consequences of this action, the main defendant was sentenced to the maximum penalty,” Mizan Online added on Sunday, without giving further details. Tensions between Iran and the United States had been soaring at the time the airliner was shot down.

Iranian air defences were on high alert for a US counterattack after Tehran fired missiles at a military base in Iraq that was used by American forces.