Cooperation key to success in Ukraine plane crash talks: Zarif

Iran’s foreign minister says cooperation among all the involved parties is key to the success of ongoing talks over the unintentional shooting down of a Ukrainian plane by the Iranian air defense in January.

Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remarks in a meeting on Monday in Tehran with the visiting Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yevheniy Yenin.

During the meeting, Zarif described the first round of talks between the two countries over the plane crash as “positive and constructive.”

He expressed hope that the negotiations for the settlement of the case would reach a desirable result through cooperation and coordination between Tehran and Kiev.

Iran warns against ‘politicization’ of plane tragedy

Iran

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 take-off.

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 Iran's missile strike on an Iraqi military base, which houses US-led coalition forces in the Arab country.

The missile strike came after terrorist American forces assassinated Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), along with his companions, outside Baghdad International Airport on direct order from US President Donald Trump.

Following the incident, the plane's black box was analyzed at the Civil Aviation Investigation Bureau in France and representatives from the US, Ukraine, France, Canada, Britain and Sweden — the countries whose citizens lost their lives in the crash — were present during the process.

Iran says analyzable data retrieved from downed Ukraine plane

Head of the Civil Aviation Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced the retrieval of some “analyzable” data from the black box of a downed Ukrainian passenger plane.

‘Iran has nothing to hide’

Earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian delegation met with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Mohsen Baharvand.

During the meeting, the head of the Iranian delegation expressed his condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash, saying, “The Ukrainian plane was struck due to a human error and the Islamic Republic of Iran will try to reassure the Ukrainian side.”

Emphasizing that Iran's approach to the Ukrainian plane crash is based on transparency, Baharvand said, "Iran has nothing to hide about the tragic incident and is ready to honestly inform the Ukrainian people and delegation about the details of the crash."

The Iranian deputy foreign minister also underlined the determination of the Islamic Republic to prosecute and punish the perpetrators, to establish justice and to compensate the survivors.

The Ukrainian diplomat thanked the Islamic Republic for its warm welcome despite the coronavirus outbreak, and praised as positive the assessment of the first round of talks in Kiev as well as the cooperation and efforts of the Islamic Republic in administering justice.

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