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Ukrainian security chief in Iran to discuss January 8 crash probe

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated Teheran’s readiness to cooperate with Kiev in the crash probe

KIEV, February 16. /TASS/. Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov is currently in Iran to discuss issues related to the investigation of the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet crash near Teheran in early January, the Council’s press service said on Sunday.

"Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Alexei Danilov is on a working visit to Iran on February 15-17, at an invitation of Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Shamkhani, to discuss problem matters of the investigation of the Ukrainian plane crash," the press service said.

According to the press service, Danilov has visited the crash site and honored the memory of the Ukrainian nationals killed in the crash.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated Teheran’s readiness to cooperate with Kiev in the crash probe.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristaiko said after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart that no agreement had yet been reached on how the plane’s flight recorders would be decoded but it had been agreed that Ukrainian specialists would be present during the process.

On January 8, a Boeing-737 of the Ukrainian International Airlines bound for Kiev crashed minutes after takeoff at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport. The crash killed all 176 people on board - citizens of Afghanistan, Germany, Iran, Canada and Ukraine and also British and Swedish subjects.

On January 11, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff released a statement admitting the plane had been mistakenly shot down. According to Iranian Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile by the air defense force.

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