Canadian investigators to join Tehran crash probe, Iran says

By Cormac Mac Sweeney and The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Iran’s civil aviation authority says it has invited Canadian investigators from the Transportation Safety Board to join a growing multi-national team probing the plane crash outside Tehran that killed 138 people believed bound for Canada.

The statement posted online said representatives from Ukraine International Airlines, the plane’s operator, arrived in Tehran today to begin the work.

That announcement came as Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne spoke to his Iranian counterpart about Wednesday’s crash.

A summary of the phone call released this morning by Global Affairs Canada says Champagne stressed to Mohammad Javad Zarif the need for Canadian officials to be allowed into Iran to provide consular services, help with identification of the deceased and to take part in the investigation.

Canada severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012, when it labelled the country a state sponsor of terrorism.

Champagne also told Zarif that Canada and Canadians have many questions about the crash, which killed 176 people, including 63 Canadians, and condemned Iran’s missile attacks against military bases in Iraq.

Canadian soldiers were present in one of those bases.

The summary did not provide any details about Zarif’s reaction to Champagne’s demands and Champagne’s office declined to provide any further information.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau echoed the sentiment that Canadians are looking for a lot of answers.

“We lost contact with it, suggesting that something very unusual happened, but we cannot speculate at this point,” he said.

It’s not clear what role Canadian investigators will play, if they’ll have access to the crash site, or be allowed to examine all the data from the black boxes.

The Canadian government is not providing any additional information at this time.

 

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