TEHRAN: The black boxes of a Ukrainian plane mistakenly downed near Tehran airport will be of “no help” in any investigation, but Iran is ready to transfer them abroad, state media said Saturday.
Flight 752, an Ukraine International Airlines jetliner, was struck by a missile and crashed shortly after taking off from the Tehran airport on January 8.
“Even though the investigation is nearly complete and the contents of the boxes will be of no help for the investigation, we are ready to give them to a third country or to a (foreign) company,” Mohsen Baharvand, deputy foreign affairs minister, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Iranian civilian authorities insisted it was likely caused by a technical malfunction, vehemently denying claims the plane was shot down.
But in the early hours of January 11, the Iranian military admitted that the plane was shot down due to “human error,” killing 176 people, mainly Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.
Ottawa has demanded for several months that Iran, which does not have the technical means to decode the black boxes, send the items abroad so that their content can be analyzed.
After Tehran said in March it was ready to transfer the black boxes to France or Ukraine, Canada’s foreign minister Francois-Philippe Champagne guardedly welcomed a “step in the right direction,” while noting that he would judge Iranian authorities on “their actions and not just their words.”
In his interview with IRNA, Baharvand implied that Iran had certain conditions for transferring the black boxes abroad, but did not elaborate.
Iran says black boxes of downed Ukraine plane of ‘no help’
https://arab.news/9fj3r
Iran says black boxes of downed Ukraine plane of ‘no help’
- Ottawa has demanded for several months that Iran, which does not have the technical means to decode the black boxes, send the items abroad so that their content can be analyzed
Senior Hamas figure reported killed in air strike in Gaza
- Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain
- Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire
CAIRO: Two Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, local health authorities said, and Palestinian media reported that one of those killed was a senior figure in the armed wing of Hamas.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the incident. Palestinian media identified him as Mohammed Al-Holy, describing him as a local Hamas commander in Deir Al-Balah. The militant group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
More than 400 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October.
Israel has razed buildings and ordered residents out of more than half of Gaza where its troops remain. Nearly all of the territory’s more than 2 million people now live in makeshift homes or damaged buildings in a sliver of territory where Israeli troops have withdrawn and Hamas has reasserted control.
The United Nations children agency said on Tuesday that over 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.
Israel and Hamas have traded blame for violations of the ceasefire and remain far apart from each other on key issues, despite the United States announcing the second phase of the ceasefire on Wednesday.
Israel launched its operations in Gaza in the wake of an attack by Hamas-led fighters on October, 2023 which killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 people, according to health authorities in the strip, and left much of Gaza in ruins.
