In response to a reporter's question about the recent allegations made by CBC Canada in a report about the tragic downing of a Ukrainian plane last year over the Iranian capital of Tehran in an accident Khatibzadeh said, “the allegations in that article (report) are inaccurate and invalid.”
The foreign ministry spokesman said that "the alleged words attributed to Dr. Zarif in that recording are in principle not compatible with his rhetoric and the claims on the existence of such a recording are untrue.”
He said that “Basically, everyone knows that Dr. Zarif in official meetings and contacts in the days and weeks after the tragedy of the Ukrainian plane, including the phone call and the meeting with the Foreign Minister of Canada, stressed the need to examine all possible scenarios about the causes and conditions leading to the catastrophe.”
“The possibility of external electronic bugs or the presence of intrusive elements could also be part of such possibilities,” he also said, adding that, “This viewpoint is not only his (Zarif's) and as it is clear from the official statements (including in the report of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament), the security authorities of the country investigated all these possibilities and finally reached the conclusion that a disastrous human error had caused the tragic incidence.”
The FM spokesman further said that the case is still under investigation by authorized judicial authorities of the Armed Forces.
He added, "Investigation into air accidents is a very specialized and technical matter, and no findings can be imposed on public opinion by spreading rumors and politically motivated work in line with poisonous political goals.”
The spokesman also noted that families who have lost loved ones in the tragic accident are bearing great amount of grief that is not easy to appease.
He stressed, "We urge Canada not to add to the grief of bereaved families with such actions and rumors."
Khatibzadeh also said about investigations on the matter so far, that “The civil aviation accident report is not a journalistic report or based on speculation that it is written superficially and based on the wishes of a country, but in the case of air accidents, the report is a technical and specialized report by impartial and authorized experts.”
He went on to say that “The Islamic Republic of Iran Civil Aviation Crash Investigation Team in constant consultation with experts from relevant countries, including Canada, the United States, France, and other countries, prepared the Flight PS752 crash report at the earliest and ahead of the time stipulated in the Chicago Convention and sent it over to the countries involved.”
He continued, "These countries have two months to announce their viewpoints, technical objections or questions about this report to the Iranian side. This two-month opportunity is now coming to an end, and the accident report will be made available to the public after taking into account the opinions and questions of the other countries and the answers of the Iranian research team.”
Foreign ministry spokesman also said, "We advise the Government of Canada to act professionally instead of making fruitless allegations and to present a report on the incident if it wants to.”
Khatibzadeh concluded that "We repeat once again that the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to its international obligations and the rights of families who have lost loved ones the vast majority of whom are Iranian citizens."
He also concluded by saying that the Iranian government is fulfilling its obligations and is abiding by its legal requirements step by step in accordance with domestic and international laws, which will be made public after completing each action.
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