Iran denies plan to send flight recorders to Ukraine

TEHERAN－The Iranian official leading the investigation into the Ukrainian jetliner that was accidentally shot down by the Revolutionary Guard appeared to backtrack on Sunday on plans to send the flight recorders abroad for analysis, a day after saying they would be sent to Kiev.

Hassan Rezaeifar was quoted by the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency as saying that "the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out".

He said Iran is working to recover the data and cabin recordings, and that it may send the flight recorders－commonly known as black boxes－to Ukraine or France.

"But as of yet, we have made no decision," Rezaeifar said.

The same official was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday as saying the recorders would be sent to Ukraine, where French, US and Canadian experts would help analyze them. Iranian officials previously said the black boxes were damaged but usable.

The government of Canada, which had nearly 60 of its citizens on the plane, said on Sunday that the boxes should be sent quickly for analysis by experts in either France of Ukraine.

Canada's Transportation Safety Board said in a statement that two of its crash investigators had left Teheran earlier on Sunday after a six-day visit during which they examined the wreckage. The board said: "There are still no firm plans as to when and where the aircraft recorders will be downloaded and analyzed."

The Guard's air defenses accidentally shot the plane down shortly after it took off from Teheran on Jan 8, killing all 176 people on board.

The bodies of 11 Ukrainian victims were brought home on Sunday in a ceremony at Boryspil International Airport in Kiev. An honor guard solemnly carried the coffins into the airport terminal, where they are to stand until the evening.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky along with other government members attended the ceremony.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that "bereaved families and the whole nation have an opportunity to pay their respects".

Xinhua