Having informed about the cause of the crash, "I wished I would die and would not witness the incident", the commander added.
Prior to the incident, Iran and the US were in high alert as the Americans had threatened to target 52 Iranian including cultural sites, he pointed out.
The escalation in the region was unprecedented for over a week, he said adding the operator in charge had been apprised of a possible war.
After the US increased tension in the Middle East by assassinating Iran's Lieutenant-General Qasem Soeimani, the country made a reaction and hit the US airbase in Iraq with missiles.
Iran's military had been put on alert to counter any US adventurism. But unintentionally, a Ukrainian Boeing 373 was shot shown near Tehran minutes after takeoff.
Iranian officials have admitted that human error was responsible for downing the passenger plane and expressed regret and apologized for the tragedy.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday ordered an investigation into the likely negligence or faulty performance in the air disaster case.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces instructed the General Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces to take necessary measures to probe the incident and make sure such events will not be repeated.
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