Iran Issues More Visas to Canadian Team Probing Crash: Canadian FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran has issued eight more visas to a team of Canadian officials following a fatal plane crash near Tehran and most members of the group should be in Tehran on Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said.
Champagne said on Twitter on Sunday that three officials from the rapid deployment team had flown to Iran on Saturday to set up a base of operations and a further eight would travel on Monday. The last member will arrive in Ankara on Monday.
“We expect the (team) to be fully in place to do their important work by Jan 14,” Champagne said, according to Reuters.
Canada says it wants to take part in the crash investigation and help the families of the Canadians who died. The team includes consular officials and two members of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB).
The TSB said later it would deploy a second team of investigators who specialize in aircraft recorder download and analysis “once we confirm where and when this activity will take place.” It did not give more details.
Canada does not have diplomatic relations with Iran.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Saturday to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Trudeau told reporters that Rouhani had committed to working with Canadian investigators.
The victims of Wednesday’s crash included 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three British nationals.
All 179 people on board the Boeing 737, including nine crew, were killed when the jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from the airport on Wednesday morning.
The plane operated by Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) was bound for Kiev.
The General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces announced on Saturday that the country’s air defense unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane on January 8 amid the highest level of readiness because of a possible military attack by the US.
In a statement, the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces said the incident took place following Iranian missile strikes on a military base of the criminal US regime in Iraq and amid a possible threat of hostile military actions.