Media: Iran pushes Kyiv to sign memorandum of understanding on downed Ukrainian plane
Iran is pushing Ukraine to sign a document obliging relatives of the victims of the crash of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane over Tehran to waive the right of further litigation, reports Radio Farda.
It is noted that Iran has sent to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs a draft memorandum of understanding, according to which, the families of the victims must recognize the cause of the tragedy as "human error" and waive the right of filing lawsuits in international courts. For this, Iran is ready to pay monetary compensation to the relatives and is ready to hand over the "black boxes" to Ukraine. At the same time, Iran insists that the data from the flight recorder can be handed over to Ukraine only after it has been analyzed.
A Ukraine International Airlines plane making a regular flight from Tehran to Kyiv crashed in Iran on the morning of January 8. 176 people from seven countries were killed, including 11 Ukrainians (nine crew members and two passengers).
Three days after the catastrophe, Iran admitted that it had inadvertently shot down the plane using a cruise missile. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has taken responsibility for the incident.
In March, Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, said Iran had agreed to hand over black boxes to the Ukraine. However, the investigation into the crash has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.