President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a phone conversation with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani on Thursday evening, the press service of the head of state has reported.
"Zelensky expressed his condolences over the loss of Iranian citizens as a result of the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines plane in Tehran," the statement reads.
Zelensky noted that the Ukrainian side had already started its work joining the investigation into the causes of the crash. "I hope for your assistance in conducting a transparent, comprehensive and objective investigation to determine the cause of the crash as soon as possible," he said.
In turn, the Iranian side assured of full cooperation with a view to holding an objective investigation and finding out the causes of the tragedy. Rouhani stressed that Iran would provide the Ukrainian expert group with prompt access to all the necessary data.
As reported, a Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) heading from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after taking off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport at about 06:00 Tehran time (04:30 Kyiv time) on Wednesday, January 8.
There were 176 people on board the aircraft - 167 passengers (including two Ukrainians) and nine crew (all Ukrainians). Most of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash in Tehran are citizens of Iran (82) and Canada (63). Those killed in the crash also include ten Swedes, four citizens of Afghanistan, three Germans, and three Britons.