Iran Ready for Talks on Ukrainian Jetliner’s Flight Recorder, Compensation

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Tehran Sergei Burdyliak held a meeting with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs Mohsen Baharvand on Tuesday.

In the meeting, the two diplomats discussed the January downing of a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran and the latest developments relating to the incident from various aspects.

In the gathering, the Iranian deputy Foreign Minister emphasized that he is prepared to hold talks with the Ukrainian officials at any time and any place to be determined by Ukrainians at the earliest possible moment in order to immediately resolve the issues about the black boxes of the plane, paying families of the victims compensation, and the other issues relating to the tragic incident.

In turn, the Ambassador of Ukraine welcomed the proposal from the Iranian diplomat, saying he will immediately relay the idea to the relevant Ukrainian authorities and will later inform the Iranian side about the results.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Tehran to Kiev operated by Ukraine International Airlines (UIA). On 8 January 2020, the Boeing 737-800 operating the route was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. All the 176 passengers and crew were killed.

According to Iranian officials, 146 passengers used an Iranian passport to leave the country, 10 used an Afghan passport, five used a Canadian one, four a Swedish one, and two used Ukrainian passports.

The Ukrainian government, however, says there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians (mostly Iranian-Canadian dual nationals), 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 7 Afghans, and 3 Britons on the plane, which was accidentally shot down by Iran’s Air Defence.