Iran: Accident experts Saturday to speak on crash

Experts from Iran and abroad to make announcement on crash in wake of accusations Iranian missile brought plane down

By Ahmet Dursun

ANKARA (AA) - Iran on Saturday will make an announcement about what brought down a Ukrainian plane in Tehran on Wednesday, killing everyone on board, local media reported.

On Friday the Fars News Agency said the cause of the crash will be announced after a meeting of accident investigators including experts from both Iran and abroad.

The U.S., Britain, and Canada on Thursday said they had evidence suggesting that an Iranian surface-to-air missile had shot down the Ukraine International Airlines passenger jet.

Iran denied the allegations as "a lie and psychological operation of the U.S."

The Boeing 737-800 crashed shortly after takeoff just hours after Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles targeting U.S. troops in Iraq.

The missiles were in retaliation for the U.S. killing last week of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general.

Some 176 people died in the crash, including Iranians, Canadians, Ukrainians, Swedes, Afghans, Germans and British citizens.

Kaynak: