Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Prestiko revealed that American officials handed over "important information" to Kiev concerning the plane of the Ukrainian International Airlines that crashed in Iran, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky announced earlier that he did not rule out the possibility of the plane crashing due to a missile, which led All 176 people on board were killed.
"We, President Volodymyr Zelinsky and I met with representatives of the United States and we got important information that our experts will analyze," Priestiko said on Twitter.
Yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered the Ukrainian President help in the investigation of a Ukrainian plane crash in Iran.
In turn, Newsweek magazine and the stations "CBS" and "CNN" quoted unnamed officials as saying that they are increasing confidence that the Iranian air defense systems accidentally shot down the plane.
On the other hand, Iran denied the hypothesis of the Ukrainian plane crashing after it was hit by a missile, considering that the Western statements that were directed in this regard are a "psychological war" against it.
The head of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, Ali Abedzadeh, confirmed in a press conference yesterday that the possibility that the Ukrainian plane was hit by a missile "is not technically possible." To that, he added: "We are able to analyze the plane's black box, but if we find it difficult because of the damage to the two boxes, we will ask for help from Ukraine."
Iran has said it may take a month or two to extract information from voice and flight data recorders. She added that she may ask for help from Russia, Canada, France or Ukraine if necessary.
Tehran also said that the investigation could take a year or two.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that his country was ready to provide its technical expertise in the investigation if Iran made a request to do so, refusing to speculate on the reasons for the crash.
In Brussels, the European Union called for a "credible and independent" investigation of the Ukrainian plane crash.
These developments came as a video showed what appeared to be the moment the plane was hit.
The recording, which the New York Times reported that it had verified, shows an object that moves quickly and rises in the sky before a bright flash appears, then it fades and continues to move forward. After several seconds, an explosion was heard.
- Iranian official: Completion of the Ukraine plane crash investigation could take two years.