Washington, Jan 12 (AFP) Iran's accidental downing of a passenger plane that killed 176 people was an "awful mistake," a US official said Saturday.

"This was a terrible tragedy," the senior administration official said, adding that "ultimately, Iran made an awful mistake."

The comments come after Iran reversed course and admitted that the Ukrainian plane, which slammed into a field shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday, had been downed by a surface-to-air missile. (AFP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)