Ukrainian Airline Plane Crashes

Ukraine's foreign minister said on Tuesday it was soon to blame human error for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger airliner near Tehran in January, challenging the findings of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO).

Iran said it had asked the U.S. and French authorities for equipment to download information from black boxes on a downed Ukrainian airliner, potentially angering countries which want the recorders analysed abroad.

Iran's supreme leader said Friday that demonstrations at home over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner were unrepresentative of the Iranian people and accused the country's enemies of exploiting the disaster for propaganda purposes.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner a "bitter" tragedy Friday but said it should not overshadow the "sacrifice" of a top commander killed in a US drone strike.

Ukraine has asked Iran to hand over the black box flight recorders of a Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed after being hit by an Iranian missile, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

A person who posted a video online of a missile striking a Ukrainian airliner in Iran last week has been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error.

Iran announced Tuesday its first arrests over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner last week, as it struggles to contain the fallout from the disaster that sparked three days of protests.

The European Union on Friday demanded an "independent and credible" probe into the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran which killed all 176 people on board.

Iran's civil aviation chief denied Friday that a missile downed a Ukrainian airliner which crashed killing all 176 on board, dismissing claims of a catastrophic mistake by Tehran's air defences.

Iran's civil aviation chief Ali Abedzadeh said Friday he was "certain" a Ukrainian airliner which crashed outside Tehran this week was not hit by a missile.

Iran denied on Thursday that a Ukrainian airliner that crashed near Tehran had been hit by a missile, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement, according to state TV.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday it will join the probe into the Ukrainian Boeing airliner which went down in Iran.

US officials believe that Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all of the 176 people on board, US media reported Thursday.

Iranian authorities have said a Ukrainian airliner, which crashed outside Tehran with the loss of all 176 people on board, had turned back after suffering a problem, as Ukrainian experts joined the investigation Thursday.

Ukraine's foreign minister said on Tuesday it was soon to blame human error for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger airliner near Tehran in January, challenging the findings of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO).

Iran said it had asked the U.S. and French authorities for equipment to download information from black boxes on a downed Ukrainian airliner, potentially angering countries which want the recorders analysed abroad.

Iran's supreme leader said Friday that demonstrations at home over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner were unrepresentative of the Iranian people and accused the country's enemies of exploiting the disaster for propaganda purposes.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner a "bitter" tragedy Friday but said it should not overshadow the "sacrifice" of a top commander killed in a US drone strike.

Ukraine has asked Iran to hand over the black box flight recorders of a Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed after being hit by an Iranian missile, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

A person who posted a video online of a missile striking a Ukrainian airliner in Iran last week has been taken into custody by the elite Revolutionary Guards, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error.

Iran announced Tuesday its first arrests over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner last week, as it struggles to contain the fallout from the disaster that sparked three days of protests.

The European Union on Friday demanded an "independent and credible" probe into the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran which killed all 176 people on board.

Iran's civil aviation chief denied Friday that a missile downed a Ukrainian airliner which crashed killing all 176 on board, dismissing claims of a catastrophic mistake by Tehran's air defences.

Iran's civil aviation chief Ali Abedzadeh said Friday he was "certain" a Ukrainian airliner which crashed outside Tehran this week was not hit by a missile.

Iran denied on Thursday that a Ukrainian airliner that crashed near Tehran had been hit by a missile, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement, according to state TV.

The US National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday it will join the probe into the Ukrainian Boeing airliner which went down in Iran.

US officials believe that Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all of the 176 people on board, US media reported Thursday.

Iranian authorities have said a Ukrainian airliner, which crashed outside Tehran with the loss of all 176 people on board, had turned back after suffering a problem, as Ukrainian experts joined the investigation Thursday.