Report: Iran Sending Black Boxes to Ukraine
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran said on Saturday it was sending to Ukraine the black boxes from a Ukrainian passenger plane that was shot down accidently outside Tehran this month amid signs of possible U.S. aggression.
Tasnim news agency said the authorities were prepared for experts from France, Canada and the United States to examine information from the data and voice recorders of the Ukraine International Airlines plane that came down on Jan. 8.
The plane disaster resulted in the deaths of all 176 aboard. It was shot down in error at a time when Iran was on high alert for a U.S. attack.
Hassan Rezaifar, a director in charge of accident investigations at Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said the aim was to read the information on the recorders "with the use of the expertise of the countries of France, Canada and America”.
"If this effort is unsuccessful then the black box will be sent to France,” he said, according to Tasnim, adding that black boxes were being sent to Kiev at the request of Ukrainian experts in Tehran and that they would not be inspected in Iran.
The U.S.-built Boeing 737-800 was en route from Tehran to the Ukrainian capital. Most of those on board were Iranians.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been pressing for a full investigation into the plane downing, said on Friday Iran should send the black boxes to France.
France was one of the few countries with the ability to read the flight and cockpit data recorders from the jet, he told a news conference, adding they were badly damaged.
Ukraine has previously said it expected Iran to hand over the black boxes to Ukraine. The foreign minister also expects Iranian representatives to travel to Kiev next week.
Canada, alongside Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain, which also had citizens on the flight, have called for a thorough investigation and compensation for the families.
The plane was brought down in the tense hours after Iran launched missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq in response to the American assassination of the Middle East’s most prominent anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani in a terrorist drone strike on Jan. 3 in Baghdad.
Iran’s foreign ministry urged those involved in the crash to avoid making it an "excuse for political gestures”.
Addressing the crisis, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei told worshipers chanting "Death to America” at prayers on Friday that the disaster was a "bitter tragedy that burned through our heart”.
But the Leader said "some tried to use it as an excuse to overshadow the martyrdom of our great commander”.
"As much as we were saddened and our hearts were broken by
the plane crash, our enemy was made happy, assuming that it has found a pretext to question the IRGC, the armed forces, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also expressed sympathy with the families of those who lost their lives in the crash.
"We share their grief, and thank the parents and bereaved families who stood against the enemy’s plot and temptation and acted against what the enemy wanted, even though their hearts were full of pain and sorrow.”
The assassination of Gen. Soleimani, a national hero at home, prompted huge mourning ceremonies in Iran and Iraq, where tens of millions chanted for revenge.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Friday the assassination disgraced the United States as Washington had to own up to the "terrorist” action and see its image dealt a blow by Iran’s retaliation.
Tasnim news agency said the authorities were prepared for experts from France, Canada and the United States to examine information from the data and voice recorders of the Ukraine International Airlines plane that came down on Jan. 8.
The plane disaster resulted in the deaths of all 176 aboard. It was shot down in error at a time when Iran was on high alert for a U.S. attack.
Hassan Rezaifar, a director in charge of accident investigations at Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said the aim was to read the information on the recorders "with the use of the expertise of the countries of France, Canada and America”.
"If this effort is unsuccessful then the black box will be sent to France,” he said, according to Tasnim, adding that black boxes were being sent to Kiev at the request of Ukrainian experts in Tehran and that they would not be inspected in Iran.
The U.S.-built Boeing 737-800 was en route from Tehran to the Ukrainian capital. Most of those on board were Iranians.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has been pressing for a full investigation into the plane downing, said on Friday Iran should send the black boxes to France.
France was one of the few countries with the ability to read the flight and cockpit data recorders from the jet, he told a news conference, adding they were badly damaged.
Ukraine has previously said it expected Iran to hand over the black boxes to Ukraine. The foreign minister also expects Iranian representatives to travel to Kiev next week.
Canada, alongside Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain, which also had citizens on the flight, have called for a thorough investigation and compensation for the families.
The plane was brought down in the tense hours after Iran launched missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq in response to the American assassination of the Middle East’s most prominent anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani in a terrorist drone strike on Jan. 3 in Baghdad.
Iran’s foreign ministry urged those involved in the crash to avoid making it an "excuse for political gestures”.
Addressing the crisis, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei told worshipers chanting "Death to America” at prayers on Friday that the disaster was a "bitter tragedy that burned through our heart”.
But the Leader said "some tried to use it as an excuse to overshadow the martyrdom of our great commander”.
"As much as we were saddened and our hearts were broken by
the plane crash, our enemy was made happy, assuming that it has found a pretext to question the IRGC, the armed forces, and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also expressed sympathy with the families of those who lost their lives in the crash.
"We share their grief, and thank the parents and bereaved families who stood against the enemy’s plot and temptation and acted against what the enemy wanted, even though their hearts were full of pain and sorrow.”
The assassination of Gen. Soleimani, a national hero at home, prompted huge mourning ceremonies in Iran and Iraq, where tens of millions chanted for revenge.
Ayatollah Khamenei said Friday the assassination disgraced the United States as Washington had to own up to the "terrorist” action and see its image dealt a blow by Iran’s retaliation.