Iran’s former top security official Ali Shamkhani has said then-president Hassan Rouhani was promptly informed after the Revolutionary Guards downed a Ukrainian passenger jet in 2020, contradicting public denials by Rouhani’s aides.
In a 90-minute video interview published Sunday on YouTube by filmmaker Javad Mogouei, Shamkhani, former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, addressed sensitive military and intelligence matters, including the former President Ebrahim Raisi helicopter crash and Iran’s nuclear policy. The video was briefly removed from the channel before being restored.
Shamkhani said then-armed forces chief Mohammad Bagheri called him after the downing of the jet and said “the guys mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian plane.” Shamkhani said he immediately relayed the message to Rouhani.
Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was struck by two IRGC missiles on January 8, 2020, shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing 176 people. In May 2025, Mahmoud Vaezi, Rouhani’s former chief of staff, said Rouhani only found out two days later during a national security meeting.
Shamkhani said there was pressure within the Supreme National Security Council to blame the crash on US electronic warfare. “There was no reason for secrecy,” he said. “It would have come out, and no one would benefit from hiding it.”
The former security chief also addressed speculation around the May 2024 helicopter crash that killed president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Although military investigators concluded “nothing happened” during the flight, Shamkhani said suspicions of an assassination attempt increased after the 12-day war with Israel.
“Technically it was reviewed, and no foreign involvement was found,” he said. “But it’s possible the cause lies beyond our technical ability to detect.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Shamkhani said he regretted Iran had not pursued a nuclear bomb under president Mohammad Khatami. “If I went back to that period, I would definitely seek an atomic bomb,” he said.
On threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, he said such action would require extreme escalation. “We haven’t reached that point yet.”
