Iran grants Canada investigators access; denies 'cover-up'

Canadian investigators flying to Tehran on Monday will access the wreckage and black boxes from a Ukranian jetliner downed by a missile strike last week, officials said.

"We don't fully know what the scope of our investigation will be," Transportation Safety Board (TSB) chair Kathy Fox told a press conference.

However, she added, "there have been early signs that Iran is allowing the TSB to play a more active role than is normally permitted."

Two Canadian investigators were to land in Tehran within hours, followed by two more in the coming days or weeks.

They have been invited by Iran, which is leading the crash probe, to participate in the downloading and analysis of the aircraft's cockpit voice and data recorders.

They will also be allowed to visit the crash site and the wreckage of the plane that is being reassembled in a nearby hanger.

"We do know what has happened. What we don't know is why it happened," Fox commented before listing off questions surrounding the crash that still need to be answered.

These include whether the missile strike was intentional or not, and why the air space was open amid heightened tensions in the region.

The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 was shot down by a missile shortly after taking off from Tehran before dawn last Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

Fifty-seven of the victims were Canadian.

- London talks -

Earlier, Canada's foreign minister announced that a Canadian-led group of nations that lost citizens would press Iran for an open and transparent investigation at a meeting in London on Thursday.

"We have convened the first in-person meeting of the International Coordination and Response Group on Thursday at Canada House in London," Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a Twitter message.

In their meeting, foreign ministers from Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain will seek to maintain pressure on Iran for full access, as well as renew calls for transparency and accountability.

The group will also discuss seeking compensation for the families of the victims.

Long-standing US-Iran tensions have soared since January 3 when missiles fired from a US drone killed a top Iranian commander, Qasem Soleimani, near Baghdad's airport.

Iran responded with a barrage of missiles at two US bases in Iraq, inflicting no casualties in what was seen as an attempt to prevent a spiral of escalation.

But hours later, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard unit mistakenly shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet, in what Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called a "human error."

Iran denies 'cover-up' over shot down airliner
Tehran (AFP) Jan 13, 2020 - Iran's government on Monday denied a "cover-up" after it took days for the armed forces to admit a Ukrainian airliner was shot down by mistake last week.

The comments came after a second night of demonstrations in Tehran against the authorities over the air disaster, according to videos shared on social media.

The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 was shot down shortly after it took off from Tehran before dawn on Wednesday, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

The Kiev-bound airliner was brought down hours after Iran had launched a wave of missiles at US troops stationed at Iraqi bases in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general.

The Islamic republic initially denied Western claims based on US intelligence that the passenger plane had been struck by a missile before admitting it on Saturday.

"In these sorrowful days, many criticisms were directed at relevant officials and authorities," said government spokesman Ali Rabiei.

"Some officials were even accused of lying and a cover-up but, in all honesty, that was not the case," he said in remarks aired on state television.

"Lying is intentionally and knowingly faking the truth. Lying is covering up. Lying is knowing a fact and not expressing it or twisting the truth."

Rabiei said all details provided by officials prior to Saturday's admission had been based on the information available to them at the time.

"All of those who expressed opinions on those days, at the peak of America's psychological war against the Iranian nation... did so based on existing information at the time."

- 'Thorough investigation' -

President Hassan Rouhani promised a "thorough investigation" into the air disaster in a telephone call with Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Sunday night, his office said.

The majority of the people on Flight PS752 were Iranians and Canadians, including dual nationals, and other victims were Ukrainians, Afghans and Britons.

There were seven Swedish citizens as well as 10 people who reside in the EU member country.

"We must strive to ensure that such a shocking incident is not repeated anywhere in the world," Rouhani said, quoted in a statement published on his government's website.

Rouhani noted that the disaster occurred at a time of heightened tensions in the region after a US drone strike killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on January 3.

"We must all join hands to bring security back to the region and allow peace to prevail," the Iranian president said.

Iran has invited experts from Canada, France, Ukraine and the United States to take part in the investigation into the air disaster.

Despite footage from the site of disaster appearing to show bulldozers clearing the area, the Revolutionary Guards' top commander denied any evidence had been tampered with.

"We didn't touch anything," Major General Hossein Salami told parliament on Sunday.

"We didn't move the wreckage of the aircraft, we didn't change the scene, we didn't move the air defence system, and we didn't (alter) the radar readings," he said.

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Top Iran Guard briefs parliament over downed jet after protest
Tehran (AFP) Jan 12, 2020
Iran's top Guards commander briefed parliament on Sunday, a day after the armed forces said a Ukrainian airliner was shot down in error in an admission that sparked an angry demonstration. His closed-session testimony comes after the temporary arrest Saturday of Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, shortly after he left a vigil for the air disaster victims that turned into a protest. On the day after the rally at Tehran's Amir Kabir University, tensions appeared to be mounting again on t ... read more