Iran will send black box of downed Ukrainian plane to France: FM Zarif
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the country will send to France "within the next few days" the black box of a Ukrainian passenger plane that was mistakenly downed near the capital, Tehran, in January.
Speaking in a phone call with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada François-Philippe Champagne on Monday, Zarif added that a decision has been made to send the plane's black box to have its data analyzed and "this decision will be implemented soon."
He said the Islamic Republic has already informed Ukraine of its readiness to settle all legal issues pertaining to the tragic incident, establish a procedure for paying compensation to the families of victims and reimbursing the Ukrainian jetliner for the incident.
However, the top Iranian diplomat added, Ukraine has not still sent its delegation to hold negotiations whereas the Islamic Republic continues to pursue the issue.
With 167 passengers and nine crewmembers on board, Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed outside Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8, moments after takeoff.
Iranian authorities acknowledged that the plane had been downed due to human error at a time when Iran's air defenses were on high alert due to increased hostile American aerial activity in the aftermath of the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
In a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in January, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic welcomes any cooperation in the framework of international regulations to shed more light on the downed Ukrainian passenger plane, adding that the country will provide all necessary consular facilities in this regard.
"Useful research has been carried out to find the causes of this crash and complementary investigations are also underway with precision and speed to reach a final concussion," Rouhani said.
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