TEHRAN: Iran will send the black box flight recorders from the Ukrainian jetliner that it accidentally shot down last week to Ukraine for further analysis, an Iranian official said Saturday.
Hassan Rezaeifer, the head of accident investigations for the civil aviation department, said it was not possible to read the black boxes in Iran, without elaborating. He said French, American and Canadian experts would help analyze them in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
He said if that doesn’t work the black boxes will be sent to France. His remarks were carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard accidentally shot the plane down shortly after it took off from Tehran on Jan. 8, killing all 176 people on board. Hours earlier, the Guard had launched ballistic missiles at US troops in Iraq in response to the US airstrike that killed Iran’s top commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Officials say lower-level officers mistook the plane for a US cruise missile.
Iranian officials initially said the crash was caused by a technical problem and invited countries that lost citizens to help investigate. Three days later, Iran admitted responsibility after Western leaders said there was strong evidence the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
The victims included 57 Canadian citizens as well as 11 Ukrainians, 17 people from Sweden, four Afghans and four British citizens. Most of those killed were Iranians. The other five nations have demanded Iran accept full responsibility and pay compensation to the victims’ families.
The plane was a Boeing 737-800 that was designed and built in the US The plane’s engine was designed by CFM International, a joint company between French group Safran and US group GE Aviation. Investigators from both countries have been invited to take part in the probe.
Iran to send flight recorders from downed jet to Ukraine
https://arab.news/gvdcp
Iran to send flight recorders from downed jet to Ukraine
- The head of accident investigations for the civil aviation department said it was not possible to read the black boxes in Iran
- He said French, American and Canadian experts would help analyze them in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital
Iran’s new supreme leader ‘safe and sound’ despite war injury reports: president’s son
TEHRAN: Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is "safe and sound" despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday.
"I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound," said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.
State television had called Khamenei a "wounded veteran of the Ramadan war" but never specified his injury.
The new supreme leader is the son and successor of the Islamic republic's longtime ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 which triggered a war across the Middle East.
The 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei, a discreet figure who has rarely appeared in public or spoken at official events, has yet to address the nation or issue a written statement since he was declared supreme leader on Sunday.
In a Wednesday report, the New York Times quoting three unnamed Iranian officials said that Khamenei "had suffered injuries, including to his legs, but that he was alert and sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication".
