Iran serious to punish those guilty for plane crash: FM official

Tehran, Oct 28, IRNA - Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs Mohsen Baharvand said on Wednesday that Iran is ready to accelerate talks for settlement of dispute with Ukraine on January 8 plane crash and will punish those found guilty. There is no ambiguity in their punishment and Iran is serious to do it, Baharvand told IRNA here on Wednesday. The following is the remarks of Baharvand to elaborate on the case: Iran tries to give a report to public opinion on any measures taken in case of the plane crash after talks with the foreign sides. Iranian envoy for settlement of the dispute with Ukraine said that Iran maintain transparency in the process of negotiations with the Ukrainian Government. On October 19, members of Iranian and Ukrainian delegations held second round of talks on the crash of Ukraine's passenger plane which was attacked as it moved very close to a sensitive military spot belonging to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) after taking off from Iran's Imam Khomeini International Airport. The talks focused on details, from legal and military aspects as well as penal questions. The process of talks depends on both sides' will; meanwhile, Iran is ready to speed the process up. Iran's legal committee was ready to start talks on restitution for the families of the victims, while the Ukrainian side was not ready. Iran thinks that the Canadian side is not ready, too; however, many of those killed by the crash were Iranian nationals, so Iran itself can decide on the issue. Reportedly, 82 onboard were confirmed to be Iranian, 63 were Canadian, and the rest were from Britain, Afghanistan, Sweden, Germany and Ukraine. Although the Ukrainian side makes some demands, which are not supported by the international policies, during the talks, Iran has not closed the doors of negotiations. Iran sees considers itself responsible for compensation based on international conventions and regulations. Also, Iran has invited all countries whose nationals were present on the board to be transparent in decoding the black box. Experts from those countries can express their opinions about Iran's report; and they can ask questions to which Iran will respond. Iran's report includes photos and reasons which show cause of the incident. The report is just a specialized issue not political. Reports, like what Iran does, should be given impartially and independently. Of course, the call for implementation of justice within the framework of international regulations is a "public demand;" so Iran has stood with the families of victims in this regard. Iran does everything based on laws. To deal with the plane crash, Canada follows unilateralism which is not acceptable for Iran. Iran cannot cooperate with a country which is after imposing unilateral policies. Canadian side seeks negotiations whenever it needs information; then it follows unilateral policy after the talks, so Tehran cannot continue talks with Ottawa as long as such behavior exists. Meanwhile, Canada has not interrupted the talks on the plane crash yet. Next round of talks between Iran and Ukraine is slated for next 35 days in Kiev. Plane crash was a tragic incident. Iran tries to deal with the case based on justice to respect the rights of the individuals. A week after the crash, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that human error has caused it.