Ukraine will exercise its right to investigate the crash of the Ukraine International Airline flight PS752 in Iran in January, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) said.
Talks with Iran’s military prosecutor Gholam Abbas Torki and Deputy Vice President Pejman Mohammadi were held on Friday at the proposal of Deputy Prosecutor General Gyunduz Mamedov, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said. The two sides discussed specific types and terms of cooperation to ensure efficient cooperation on the inquiry.
“Ukraine cannot waive its right to investigate this crime, which is very serious and was committed against Ukrainian citizens. And this is our duty to Ukraine and the public as well as an obligation under international law. For there is no other way than finding a compromise and productive forms of cooperation while respecting the sovereignty and the laws of our countries,” Mamedov said at the meeting.
He also informed the Iranian delegation of the experience of Ukrainian prosecutors and investigators in probing criminal cases with limited access to a crime scene, citing the 2014 Malaysia Airlines Boeing crash in Donbas as an example.
“The two sides expressed their readiness to cooperate and provide the inquiry with the necessary information in accordance with the national legislation of both countries,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
A UIA Boeing 737-800 performing Flight PS752 en route from Tehran to Kyiv crashed soon after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport early in the morning of Jan. 8.
None of the 167 passengers and nine crewmembers on board survived. The crash killed 11 citizens of Ukraine (including nine crewmembers), 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, ten citizens of Sweden, four of Afghanistan, and three each of Germany and the United Kingdom.
The Iranian authorities admitted on Jan. 11 that the Boeing was downed by the Iranian military by mistake.
Commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Amir Ali Hajizadeh later claimed full responsibility for the Ukrainian plane crash.
