In a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late Saturday, Rouhani said, “The cooperation between Iranian and Ukrainian experts over the plane crash will continue till they reach final results.”
Referring to the statement by the General Staff of Iranian Armed Forces regarding the “human error” on the catastrophic accident, Rouhani said there will be no mercy toward those responsible for the unforgivable accident, and they will be put on trial.
The Iranian president again expressed deepest condolences over the plane crash, assuring that Iran is committed to all its obligations.
Zelensky appreciated Iran’s responsible measures over the accident, calling for joint collaboration between the two countries' technical teams to look into causes of the crash as soon as possible.
A Ukrainian plane with 176 people on board was unintentionally downed near the capital city of Tehran on Wednesday. The victims include mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, and four British nationals.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) had struck two American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the US’s assassination of senior IRGC Commander Lieutenant General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last Friday.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic noted in a statement following the plane crash that the tragedy was caused by “human error” at a time the country was on the highest level of alert to potential American military adventurism.
MNA/4822894