Ukraine seeks ‘unconditional support’ for its plane crash probe

Iran denied the reports that a missile had caused the crash, in which all 176 people aboard died when the plane went down soon after takeoff near Tehran on Wednesday.

Ukraine on Thursday called for “unconditional support” of its investigators after a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed in Iran, with the US media reporting it had been accidentally shot down by a missile.

Debris of a plane belonging to Ukraine International Airlines, that crashed after taking off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport, is seen on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran January 8, 2020. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

Iran denied the reports that a missile had caused the crash, in which all 176 people aboard died when the plane went down soon after takeoff near Tehran on Wednesday.

“The circumstances of this catastrophe are still unclear,” Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya said at a UN meeting in New York.

“It’s now up to experts to investigate and to find answers to the question of what caused the crash. To do so, our experts must receive unconditional support for their investigation.”