Iranian official backtracks on black boxes

THE Iranian official leading the investigation into the Ukrainian jetliner that was accidentally shot down by the Revolutionary Guard has appeared to backtrack on plans to send the flight recorders abroad for analysis, a day after saying they would be sent to Kyiv.

Hassan Rezaeifar was quoted by the state-run Irna news agency as saying: “The flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out.”

He said Iran was working to recover the data and cabin recordings, and that it may send the flight recorders – commonly known as black boxes – to Ukraine or France.

The same official was quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday as saying the recorders would be sent to Ukraine, where French, American and Canadian experts would help analyse them. Iranian officials previously said the black boxes were damaged but usable.

The guard’s air defences shot the plane down shortly after it took off from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board. Hours earlier, the guard had launched ballistic missiles at US troops in Iraq in response to the US air strike that killed Iran’s top general in Baghdad.

Officials say lower-level officers mistook the plane for a US cruise missile.

Iranian officials initially said the crash was caused by a technical problem but later admitted responsibility after Western leaders said there was strong evidence the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile. The victims included 57 Canadian citizens as well as 11 Ukrainians, 17 people from Sweden, four Afghans and four British citizens. The five nations have demanded Iran accept full responsibility.