Parliamentary Representative Criticizes Contradictions Regarding Plane Crash

The government spokesperson issued a statement saying the investigation committee will provide transparent information. However, a parliament member has criticized officials for contradictory statements about the black box of the downed aircraft.

Ali Rabiei, spokesman for the Iranian government, issued a statement on Thursday evening, December 19 (January 9), and without mentioning the United States, invited Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, to Iran, saying: “We also ask the Boeing company to send its representative to participate in the process of examining the black box.”

Rabiei also advised the United States to “instead of lying and creating a psychological operation, pay attention to the results of committee investigations.”

Regarding the crash of the Ukrainian aircraft on Friday, December 19 (January 9), a video was also published in The New York Times showing the moment a missile struck the Ukrainian aircraft in Iran’s airspace. The New York Times reported that the Ukrainian International Airlines passenger aircraft was hit by an Iranian missile minutes after takeoff from Tehran.

Trudeau: Canada Has Information That the Aircraft Was Downed by Iranian Missile

Ali Rabiei did not mention in his statement the position taken by Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, regarding “the aircraft being downed by Iranian air defense.”

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, announced that various intelligence sources, including Canada itself, have information indicating that the aircraft was downed by an Iranian missile. Trudeau also said: “A comprehensive international investigation should be conducted at the accident site, and Iranian authorities have so far shown that they are aware of the sensitivity of this matter.”

In the crash of the Ukrainian Boeing 737, 176 people were killed, most of whom were Iranian, and 63 were Canadian citizens.

Contradictory Statements by Iranian Officials

Ali Rabiei, as spokesman for the Iranian government, is so far the highest-ranking Iranian official to react to the Ukrainian aircraft crash. In his statement, while reversing the government’s previous position on non-cooperation with Boeing and announcing readiness to cooperate with various parties, he categorically denied the possibility of a missile attack on the aircraft.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, leader of Iran, has remained silent so far regarding the aircraft crash tragedy, and Hassan Rouhani has only addressed the matter in contacts with foreign leaders. Leaders of other countries, including Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Britain, and Afghanistan, have reacted while expressing sympathy with the victims.

A member of the Iranian parliament has also accused the country’s officials of contradicting themselves about the “black box” of the downed aircraft.

Bahram Parsaei, representative of Shiraz in the Iranian parliament, in three tweets about the Ukrainian aircraft crash, criticized the “hasty and unprofessional statements of the head of the aviation organization and his appointed representative in the accident investigation committee.”

Mr. Parsaei wrote in this regard that why “they, contrary to ICAO regulations, announced a technical defect as the cause of the accident before reading the black box, and thus intensified ambiguities and increasingly undermined the credibility of the accident investigation committee.”

The Shiraz representative asked in his tweet, “What benefit does contradictory speech about handing over or not handing over the black box to the manufacturer have except creating ambiguity?”

Parsaei in his latest tweet also wrote: “The hasty and unprofessional statements of the head of the aviation organization and his appointed representative in the accident investigation committee are not new. They, contrary to ICAO regulations, announced a technical defect as the cause of the accident before reading the black box, and thus intensified ambiguities and increasingly undermined the credibility of the accident investigation committee.”

Among the victims of the Ukrainian aircraft crash, Afghanistan is the third country, after Iran and Canada, with the most casualties.

The media office of the presidency of Afghanistan announced through a statement that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, had a telephone conversation with Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, president of Afghanistan. The statement said: “Ashraf Ghani expressed hope that Iranian authorities will cooperate with Ukrainian authorities in the investigation and transparent examination of this accident.”

Source: DW