KYIV. July 20 (Interfax) - Iran must conduct a full, transparent, and independent technical inquiry into the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines' Boeing 737 outside Tehran in January in accordance with international standards, the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 said due to Iran's handover of the flight recorders of the downed plane.
"While we welcome the delivery of Flight PS752's recorders to France's Civil Aviation Safety Investigation and Analysis Bureau, this is long overdue, and is only a step towards completing the safety investigation. We reiterate our demand for Iran to conduct a full, transparent, and independent flight safety investigation in accordance with international standards," the group said in a statement published on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's website on Monday.
"The Coordination Group will continue working to ensure transparency, accountability and justice, including reparations, for the families of the victims of this terrible tragedy," the statement said.
The International Coordination and Response Group includes Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom, the countries whose citizens died when the Ukrainian plane was downed in Iran in January.
The Boeing 737-800 passenger airliner performing UIA flight PS752 from Tehran to Kyiv crashed soon after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport early in the morning of January 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 January 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.