Iran Not to Hand Over Black Box to Foreign Sides
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- The black box of a Ukrainian passenger plane accidentally shot down over Iran last month is damaged but Iran will not hand it over to another country despite pressure for access, top Iranian ministers said on Wednesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week he had "impressed upon” Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif that a complete and independent investigation into the shooting down of the airliner had to be carried out.
"We have a right to read the black box ourselves. We have a right to be present at any examination of the black box,” Zarif said.
"If we are supposed to give the black box to others for them to read it in our place then this is something we will definitely not do,” he said.
Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the flight data recording box had "sustained noticeable damage and the defense industry has been requested to help in reconstructing (it).”
"The reconstruction of the black box is supposed to take place first and then the reading,” Hatami said.
All 176 passengers aboard the plane were killed when air defense units fired missiles at the plane after mistaking it for a hostile target.
Iran is in discussions with other countries, particularly Ukraine, about the investigation, Foreign Minister Zarif said.
Under international aviation rules, Iran had the right to lead the investigation into the downing of the airliner, Zarif said earlier this month. But he said Iran needed software, cables and additional expertise from the U.S. or other Western countries to be able to decipher the information in the black box.
"We have asked for help, why haven’t the United States helped us? This is a humanitarian issue. Why haven’t they given us the software? Why haven’t they given us the expertise?” Zarif said.
"There are still a lot of unknowns. That’s why we want more than anybody else to know what is in the black box, to know what actually happened.” For the moment, "it’s just sitting there,” Zarif said of the black box.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week he had "impressed upon” Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif that a complete and independent investigation into the shooting down of the airliner had to be carried out.
"We have a right to read the black box ourselves. We have a right to be present at any examination of the black box,” Zarif said.
"If we are supposed to give the black box to others for them to read it in our place then this is something we will definitely not do,” he said.
Defense Minister Amir Hatami said the flight data recording box had "sustained noticeable damage and the defense industry has been requested to help in reconstructing (it).”
"The reconstruction of the black box is supposed to take place first and then the reading,” Hatami said.
All 176 passengers aboard the plane were killed when air defense units fired missiles at the plane after mistaking it for a hostile target.
Iran is in discussions with other countries, particularly Ukraine, about the investigation, Foreign Minister Zarif said.
Under international aviation rules, Iran had the right to lead the investigation into the downing of the airliner, Zarif said earlier this month. But he said Iran needed software, cables and additional expertise from the U.S. or other Western countries to be able to decipher the information in the black box.
"We have asked for help, why haven’t the United States helped us? This is a humanitarian issue. Why haven’t they given us the software? Why haven’t they given us the expertise?” Zarif said.
"There are still a lot of unknowns. That’s why we want more than anybody else to know what is in the black box, to know what actually happened.” For the moment, "it’s just sitting there,” Zarif said of the black box.