Iran has finally released an official from its Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization about the Jan. 8 Ukraine airliner shoot-down.  Iranian investigators blame a misaligned missile battery and miscommunication between soldiers and their IRGC commanders.  Remember, the shootdown happened the same night Iran after launched a ballistic missile attack targeting U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and Iran was expecting the U.S. to attack Tehran in response.  The U.S. made no retaliatory attack.  Iran’s civilians (and Ukraine’s civilians, and other country’s civilians who lost loved ones) know that mismanagement and corruption and poor military procedures have combined to shoot down a commercial airliner with a military missile.  But there is a little bit of good news—the Russian-made Tor system, the SA-15, does work.  See “Iran blames errors for jet shootdown,” AP, July 12, 2020.

“Iran reports 194 more fatalities from coronavirus,” Middle East Memo, July 12, 2020.

“Iran Guards Deny Suing Journalists For Army Interview Critical Of IRGC,” Radio Farda, July 12, 2020.

“Media Report: US Frees Convicted Terror Financier as Part of Deal with Iran,” VOA, July 13, 2020.

“Fire Breaks Out at Petrochemical Facility in Southwest Iran,” Reuters, Haaretz, July 12, 2020.  A fire broke out at a facility belonging to the Shahid Tondgooyan Petrochemical Company in southwest Iran but was quickly contained, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday,

“Iran’s President Calls for Ban on Weddings, Wakes to Halt Virus Spread,” Reuters, July 12, 2020.

“As U.S. Moves To Exit Afghanistan, Rivals Prepare To Swoop In,” RFE/RL, Frud Bezhan, July 12, 2020.