Javad Zarif Says Tehran Ready to Repatriate Bodies of Ukrainian Victims of Boeing Plane Crash
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko in phone talks on Thursday that Tehran was ready to hand over the bodies of Ukrainians who died in the Ukrainian Boeing passenger plane to Kiev, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2020) Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told his Ukrainian counterpart Vadym Prystaiko in phone talks on Thursday that Tehran was ready to hand over the bodies of Ukrainians who died in the Ukrainian Boeing passenger plane to Kiev, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reported.
"During this telephone conversation, Zarif informed about Iran's readiness to hand over the bodies of Ukrainian citizens and allow the specialists of that country to participate in the decryption of the black box," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram-channel.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed on January 8 near Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing all 176 people on board. According to official data, 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three UK nationals were among the victims.
The Iranian military later admitted to unintentionally shooting down the jetliner, having confused it with a hostile cruise missile in anticipation of a US retaliation to Iran's attack against US bases in neighboring Iraq.