In a reaction to the recent remarks of Ukrainian and Canadian officials on the plane crash, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Mohsen Baharvand reiterated that Islamic Republic of Iran does not accept any pressure and threat over the case.
In response to the statements of Ukrainian Foreign Minister and his deputy over the plane crash, he said, “We see and pay attention to the statements of Ukrainian officials in media, but sometimes we do not understand the reason for some unconstructive statements raised by them."
He added that it may be necessary to recall once again the moves taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in connection with tragic crash of a Ukrainian plane, adding,” Representatives of the Ukrainian government have been present at various stages of the investigation in Paris.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to the second round of negotiation held in Tehran and stated, “We held two rounds of negotiations in Kiev and Tehran, and representatives of various Iranian and Ukrainian organizations including Civil Aviation Organization (CAO), judicial, military, foreign ministries, etc., have attended the meetings and details were given and provided to Ukrainian officials on the incident precisely.”
“We agreed to hold a third round of talks in the shortest time possible in Kiev. The Ukrainian side set condition for holding the third round of the meeting and in this regard, we have tried to provide them with necessary information as much as possible but seven months have passed after the second round of talks and Ukrainian side has not yet announced the date of next meeting which will be held in Kiev."
In order to avoid wasting time, Islamic Republic of Iran decided to fulfill its obligations in accordance with international aviation law carefully and quickly, he added.
On January 8, 2019, the Kyiv-bound UIA Boeing 737 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board, mostly Iranian and Canadian citizens.
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