Black boxes of Ukrainian jet downed near Tehran confirm illegal interference

The transcript of the black boxes from a Ukrainian passenger plane downed near Tehran in January confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane, Ukrainian authorities said Friday, reported Xinhua.

"I am grateful to all the partners who helped to bring this moment closer. Black boxes of PS-752 were read out and deciphered successfully," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhenii Yenin said on Twitter.

"The transcript confirmed the fact of illegal interference with the plane. We are waiting for the Iranian side for the first round of negotiations next week," he said.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said it was too soon to blame human error for the downing of the airliner and that many questions remained unanswered.

The Boeing-737, en route from Tehran to Kiev, was shot down by two rockets shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Jan. 8. The tragedy resulted in the deaths of all 167 passengers and nine crew members on board, who were citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, and Britain.

Later, Iran's armed forces confirmed that an "unintentional" launch of a military missile by the country was the cause of the incident.