The Ukrainian plane that crashed in Iran was shot down by an Iranian missile by mistake, which Tehran has officially denied, U.S. officials said Thursday evening.
Reuters quoted US officials as saying that they were convinced that the Ukrainian Boeing plane had been shot down by Iranian air defenses.
Ali Abedzadeh, head of iran´s aviation organization, said the allegations that the Ukrainian plane was hit by a missile could not be true.
Abedzadeh added that these are "unscientific, illogical and impossible allegations,"" pointing out that dozens of domestic and international flights were flying over Iran during the missile strike on the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq, russia today reported.
He stressed the existence of "full coordination of military and non-military bodies in Iran, and when the Ukrainian plane went down, dozens of Iranian and foreign aircraft were flying in a safe atmosphere."
"Iran and Ukraine have the ability to read information in the black box, and if specialized procedures are needed, we can do so in France," he said, denying Tehran´s insistence that the black box should not be sent to The American Boeing.
For his part, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zielinski called on Britain to participate in the investigation into the "Boeing" plane disaster of Ukraine Airlines in Iran.
A statement posted on the website of the Ukrainian president´s office following his telephone call to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday said the British prime minister supported the idea, noting that the best British experts should be involved in the investigation.
"In our contacts with the Iranian side, we insist on an objective, thorough and transparent investigation to find out all the circumstances of this tragic incident as soon as possible," Zelinsky told Johnson.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson´s spokesman said Britain wanted an impartial investigation into the Ukrainian plane crash.
The spokesman noted that In his contact with Zielinski, Johnson stressed the need for "a full and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the incident."
When asked about reports about the causes of the crash and referring to a missile strike or terrorist act, the spokesman said: "I don´t speculate, but the reports we´ve heard are very disturbing."
A total of 176 people, including three Britons, were killed when a Ukrainian Airlines Boeing plane crashed after taking off from Tehran´s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Wednesday (January 8th).
The crash occurred hours after Iranian bombing of two military bases housing Us forces in Iraq, and the cause of the crash remains unknown.
