Pete Buttigieg touched off a storm of criticism on Twitter Thursday when he said civilians killed in a passenger plane shot down by the Iranian military died because of a military “tit for tat” between the US and Iran.

Buttigieg, a 2020 presidential hopeful, made the statement on Twitter after several reports revealed the doomed Ukrainian airliner was mistakenly shot down by an Iranian missile after lifting off from an airport in Tehran Wednesday.

“Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat,” Buttigieg tweeted.

“My thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all 176 souls lost aboard this flight,” the former South Bend, Indiana mayor added.

Conservatives pounced on Buttigieg — arguing Iran’s error was solely to blame for the crash.

“Uh, Pete, they weren’t ‘caught in the middle.’ They were shot down BY IRAN. Military incompetence by the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Just because Dems hate Trump doesn’t justify false equivalence w/ Iran,” Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted.

“Innocent civilians are now dead because of Iran. Full stop,” wrote Natalie Johnson, a Deputy Press Secretary for the House GOP conference.

“Nope. Nope. Nope,” conservative columnist David French tweeted.

“Iran launched a missile strike against our own troops, and then blundered by shooting down a civilian airliner when it wasn’t even under attack. That’s the story. This is on Iran,” he added.

The Buttigieg campaign did not immediately respond.