Iran slams West’s smear campaign over crashed airliner

The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry slammed the early assessments by some ‎Western media officials that a Ukrainian airliner carrying dozens of civilians have been shot ‎down in the Iran.‎

News ID: 448459

Date: 10 January 2020 - 18:37

RNA – The spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry slammed the early assessments by some ‎Western media officials that a Ukrainian airliner carrying dozens of civilians have been shot ‎down in the Islamic Republic, saying Tehran has invited Kiev to take part in the investigation, ‎according to Tasnim News.‎

In a statement on Thursday night, Sayyed Abbas Mousavi reacted to “the suspicious moves” ‎by the West to create a negative atmosphere against Iran and said the country is ‎investigating the incident in adherence to international standards.‎

The spokesman further said Iran has invited Ukraine and Canada to participate in the ‎investigation, which will be conducted according to the International Civil Aviation ‎Organization’s regulations.‎

The remarks came as some American, Canadian, and British officials said Thursday the cause ‎of the jet’s crash was a missile fired from Iran in the hours after the country had launched ‎other missiles at bases housing American troops.‎

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.‎

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