Ukraine Airlines black box transcript confirms Iran interfered with downed jet

Iran shot down the Boeing 737 in January after mistaking it for a missile during a period of high tensions with the United States

The transcript from the black boxes from a Ukrainian jet accidentally shot down by Iran in January confirms illegal interference with the plane, Ukraine's deputy foreign minister wrote on Twitter on Friday.

Yevhenii Yenin said Kiev was expecting an Iranian delegation to visit Ukraine next week for talks.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday an international team examining the black boxes from the jet had completed a preliminary analysis of the data in France.

Iran agreed in June to send the recorders to France's accident investigation agency for analysis, ending a long standoff with Canada, Ukraine and France.

"Grateful to all partners who helped bring this moment closer. Black boxes from #PS752 were read out and deciphered successfully. The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane," Mr Yenin wrote on Twitter.

Iranian forces say they downed the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 jet after mistaking it for a missile at a time of high tensions with the United States. All 176 people on board were killed.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this month that it was too soon to blame human error for the shooting down of the passenger plane and that many questions remained unanswered.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that Kiev was not satisfied with the amount of compensation Iran had offered.

Updated: July 24, 2020, 3:07 PM