Iran intends to send black boxes of downed Ukrainian airliner to France
Iran intends to send flight recorders of the Ukraine International Airlines plane, which was shot down by an Iranian missile on January 8, to France.
The Iranian authorities explained that the decision was made because Ukrainian side allegedly delayed the response regarding the fate of the flight recorders, reported the Iranian agency ISNA.
"In response to the delay, the Iranian authorities decided to send the black box of the plane to another country (possibly France)," the statement reads.
Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin said that Ukraine could file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice of the United Nations if negotiations with Tehran over the downed plane were inconclusive.
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.