Iran Rejects Ukrainian Official’s Comment on Flight 752 Crash
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the claim raised by Ukraine’s security chief that the downing of a passenger plane near Tehran in January 2020 had been “intentional.”
In a statement released on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh reacted to comments by Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, who had told Canadian daily The Globe and Mail that the crash of flight PS752 operated by Ukraine International Airlines had been a “conscious attack.”
Danilov said “when they claim it was accidental… I don’t buy that.” He also described the incident as “intentional” and a “conscious attack.”
In response, Khatibzadeh said “despite all the explanations as well as technical and expert reports (on the incident), Ukrainian officials continue making vague, political remarks,” expressing regret that “they present their imaginary and commissioned theories through media.”
“It appears that the Ukrainian authorities do give priority to neither resolving (the issue surrounding) the bitter incident in line with objective and technical reality, nor reducing the sufferings of the bereaved families,” the Iranian spokesperson added.
They are instead trying to making political gains by linking the tragedy to their woes at home or their ties with other countries, he noted, adding that such “political abuses” are not acceptable at all, Press TV reported.
“Iran stands ready to engage in talks with all sides within the framework of international law and norms and advises all the parties involved not exit the boundaries of reason and law when making remarks,” Khatibzadeh added.
The plane was shot down with 176 people aboard on January 8, 2020, by Iran’s air defenses, which mistook the aircraft for a military target amid military tensions between Tehran and Washington following the US assassination of Iran’s Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq days earlier.
Hours before the tragedy happened, Iran had launched a retaliatory missile strike against a US-run base in western Iraq and then put the country’s air defenses were on high alert due to increased American aerial activity in the aftermath of the strike.
