Iran Pledges Cooperation with Ukraine in Inquiry on Plane Crash

President of Iran Hassan Rouhani has assured his Ukrainian counterpart that Tehran will keep working in cooperation with Kiev in the investigation into the January 8 crash of a Boeing 737 passenger plane.

President Rouhani on Saturday held a telephone conversation with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, for the second time in the past two days.

In the conversation, Rouhani touched on a statement from the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces about the crash of the Ukrainian jetliner and the public announcement of results of the investigation into the accident, adding, “The statement has mentioned that a human error has caused the accident, and the individuals involved in the incident will be handed over to the judicial authorities.”

He also emphasized that Iran will continue to cooperate with the experts from Ukraine to complete the investigation into the accident, noting, “At the same time, Iran’s Judiciary will soon start measures to examine the case.”

President Rouhani said he is upset about the deaths of people from the other countries to the same extent that he is grief-stricken by the loss of lives of Iranian passengers on board the plane.

The president also noted that he will send a special envoy to Ukraine in the near future to express the Iranian government and nation’s deep sympathy to the Ukrainian nation.

Iran remains committed to all of its legal obligations following the incident, President Rouhani underlined, saying he will order Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to stay in contact with his Ukrainian counterpart and continue cooperation in this regard.

For his part, Zelensky once again offered condolences to Iran over the crash, saying the Saturday’s statement from Iran was of great significance for Ukraine.

He also lauded the Islamic Republic for “effective cooperation” under the special conditions that have been created in Iran.

Zelensky finally hoped that the cooperation between Tehran and the Ukrainian experts deployed to Iran would continue in order to finish the investigation according to the judicial and legal protocols, and that the bodies of victims of the crash would be repatriated to Ukraine as soon as possible.

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