TEHRAN — In response to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry statement about the Ukrainian plane crash incident, the Iranian Foreign Ministry released a statement on Tuesday clarifying on the latest developments surrounding the issue.

The statement said that following the accidental downing of the Ukrainian plane in January 2020, Iran, based on good faith and in efforts to clear up possible misunderstandings in bilateral relations, made every effort to interact appropriately with the Ukrainian government in a constructive and professional atmosphere on the various dimensions of the accident.

Following is an excerpt of the statement:

According to the data, in addition to several meetings and contacts at different levels between the relevant officials in the two countries, the delegations of the two sides met with the presence of representatives of all relevant departments in three rounds of bilateral talks, August 2020 in Kiev, October 2020 in Tehran and June 2021 in Kiev and in the form of technical, military, legal, criminal and payment negotiations in detail and in accordance with international obligations and even beyond.

The Iranian delegation, in good faith, informed the Ukrainian delegation of all its findings and provided a detailed description of the measures taken and tried to provide the necessary answers to the questions of the Ukrainian delegation within the framework of laws and regulations.

Despite the reluctance of the Ukrainian side to negotiate the harms to the families of the victims and the Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA), the foreign ministry announced in the second round of bilateral talks that necessary coordination is needed to begin as soon as possible. Negotiations have been held between the mentioned airlines and the government of Iran (on behalf of the Center for International Legal Affairs) and the first round of negotiations was held in 2021, and contacts between the parties continue in this regard.

Regarding the technical aspects of the accident, by reading the black boxes in Paris in accordance with the relevant international regulations and with the participation of the relevant governments, in accordance with Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, the accident investigation team has completed the investigation and report process. The technical information of the accident was published in due time, after making the necessary coordination with the relevant governments, and was duly submitted to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). This issue was announced to the participating governments during the speech of the then Deputy Foreign Minister on June 2020, during the participation of the Iranian delegation in the ICAO Council meeting.

In the criminal and judicial fields, the Islamic Republic of Iran, taking into account all legal and criminal aspects and in accordance with its laws and regulations, has taken the necessary measures to conduct criminal investigations and investigations through the Tehran Military Prosecutor's Office against the defendants. The indictment was submitted to the court by the prosecutor. The first court hearing was held on November 21, 2021. The court hearings will be held in due time in accordance with the opinions of the esteemed judges and in compliance with all legal standards, and will continue until the result is achieved and justice is done.

On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in good faith and on an ex-gratia basis and in order to appease the families of the victims, set a figure to be paid to the families of all victims (without any discrimination such as their nationality). It has taken action and with the formation of the payment headquarters in the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, a large number of families have been paid so far and legal steps are being taken to pay the rest. In this regard, in addition to informing and paying Iranian citizens, in some notes, the governments of Ukraine, Canada, Afghanistan and Sweden, some of whose citizens are among the victims, have been informed and the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to pay to families their loved ones have been declared dead.

As a result, as is clear from the above, the foreign ministry believes that all aspects of the Ukrainian plane crash in the form of three rounds of talks between the delegations of the two sides and other formal contacts between the two sides have been considered adequately. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran is always ready to continue bilateral interactions through the embassies of the two sides or other meetings and interactions between the officials of the two countries.