Ukraine expects Iran to punish those guilty of downing UIA plane - Zelensky
"This morning was not good, but it brought the truth. Even before the end of the work of an international commission, Iran has admitted its guilt in the downing of the Ukrainian plane. But we insist on full admission of guilt. We expect from Iran the assurances of its readiness to conduct a full and open investigation, bring perpetrators to justice, return the bodies of the victims, pay compensation, and make official apologies through diplomatic channels," he said.
Zelensky expressed hope that the investigation would continue without artificial delays and obstacles.
"Our 45 professionals should get full access and engagement to establish justice," he added.
On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani apologized for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane by the Iranian military, expressing condolences to the families of the dead. He called the plane crash a disastrous mistake.
Rouhani wrote on his Twitter account that "Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people." He also stressed that investigations continued to identify and prosecute "this great tragedy and unforgivable mistake."
A Ukraine International Airlines plane (flight PS752), en route from Tehran to Kyiv, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport early on January 8. There were 176 people on board the aircraft. All of them died. The crash killed 11 Ukrainians (two passengers and all nine crew), 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, ten Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three Britons.
Iran had claimed that the plane had crashed due to an engine failure. However, early on January 11, Iran stated that it had shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane accidentally. The aircraft took off from the airport and was seen as an enemy target as it came close to an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps base.
op
