Noting that the Islamic Republic has had no reason for denying the incident, Shamkhani said the mishap took place while Iranians were mourning for martyrdom of Lt. Gen. Soleimani, which deepened their grief.
He named possible probabilities including enemies’ efforts in jamming i.e. suppressing Iran’s electromagnetic signals or hacking Iranian systems as the main reasons for making investigations time-consuming.
Shamkhani also underlined Iran’s cooperation from the early hours after the crash with foreign countries and experts, which proved the country’s good will.
On Wednesday, a Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed in Tehran shortly after taking off from Iran's Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) with at least 170 passengers and crew, mostly Iranians, onboard.
Iran said the plane had flown close to a sensitive military site and been brought down due to human error "at a time of crisis caused by US adventurism."
MNA/4823786