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Features

Iran to Hand Over Black Boxes to Ukraine After Coronavirus Crisis

March 31, 2020
Emil Filtenborg and Stefan Weichert
6 min read
Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister Yehor Bozhok said the coronavirus was “certainly not a reason for not delivering the black boxes to Ukraine” — although not all officials expressed the same sentiment
Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister Yehor Bozhok said the coronavirus was “certainly not a reason for not delivering the black boxes to Ukraine” — although not all officials expressed the same sentiment
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov (right) visited Iran in February, during which he examined the crash site and held meetings with Iranian representatives
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov (right) visited Iran in February, during which he examined the crash site and held meetings with Iranian representatives

Despite conflicting statements by Ukrainian politicians, Ukraine has accepted Iran’s delay in delivering the black boxes for Flight PS752, which was shot down by Revolutionary Guards on January 8, acknowledging that both governments are fully occupied dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

In recent weeks, Iran promised to deliver the black boxes from flight PS752 to Ukraine after the January catastrophe resulted in the deaths of everyone on board, including 82 Iranians. But in late March, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami stated that Iran had halted the transfer due to the spread of coronavirus in Iran. Initially, it was met with a sharp response from the deputy foreign minister of Ukraine, Yehor Bozhok, who told Radio Liberty that the coronavirus was “certainly not a reason for not delivering the black boxes to Ukraine.”

However, Aleksey Jakubin, associate professor at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, who has followed the case closely and is in tune with the current political landscape, told IranWire that Ukraine and Iran seem to have agreed on a delivery of the black boxes after the crisis.

“According to my information, Iran and Ukraine agreed to postpone the delivery to Ukraine. The position right now is that the transfer of the black boxes will freeze. But after the crisis, they will be sent to Ukraine or maybe to France for analysis,” said Jakubin, who also pointed out that a potential visit from the foreign minister of Iran to Ukraine had been postponed.

“It also includes a discussion about compensation for the victims,” he said. “These negotiations are frozen and will start again after the coronavirus. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine is now only focused on the virus.” He also conceded that the deputy foreign minister of Ukraine might have a different opinion, but that did not change the fact that Ukraine has come to an understanding with Iran. 

 

Wait Until the Pandemic is Over

IranWire contacted the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, who made a three-day visit to Iran in February, during which he examined the crash site and held meetings with Iranian representatives. Danilov’s press secretary told IranWire on the messenger app Telegram that Danilov would “not comment on the topic of the ‘black boxes’ until the end of the pandemic.” 

When asked why, Danilov’s press secretary replied that there were currently “more important questions” to deal with, an obvious reference to the coronavirus. In Ukraine, the number of coronavirus cases had risen to 549 as of the morning of Tuesday, March 31, significantly lower than in Iran, where there are more than 44,000 cases. The Ukrainian government has closed much of the country, most public transportation has come to a stop, and people have been told to stay inside their homes to stop the spread of the virus. Most of the government’s energy has been focused on controlling its borders, keeping an eye on the war in the eastern part of the country, and minimizing economic derailing, Jakubin explained. 

Therefore, he said, it was difficult for him to explain why the deputy foreign minister of Ukraine Yehor Bozhok would have said something different to Radio Liberty, a statement that conflicted with the statements issued by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

“We insist that the black box of the downed aircraft should be delivered immediately to Ukraine or the country we designate, and we expect Iran to deliver on its promises not only to us but to the United Nations and the entire world,” Bozhok had said earlier, stressing that Ukraine would continue its hunt for the truth and that the two countries have still not agreed on the appropriate level of compensation.

Jakubin said he didn’t know whether the conflicting comments were due to miscommunication or whether the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine and the foreign ministry really held contradictory views. In a recent article, Pavlo Kutuev, chair of the sociology department at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, explained to IranWire that contradicting views are not uncommon within Ukraine and that they can even be part of a clear strategy. However, these contradictions could also represent bad coordination between different ministries. 

 

Lack of Focus

In total, there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, four Afghans, four Britons, and three Germans among the casualties when the plane was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards near Tehran. It has been described as an accident by the Iranian authorities. Prior to the more recent statements by officials, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his special advisor Andriy Yermak had criticized the Iranian government heavily and were thought to have been losing patience because of the lack of progress in the investigation and in the delay of the handover of the boxes. 

However, after an Iranian representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization promised on March 6 to deliver the black boxes within two weeks, the criticism has been muted, with the expectation that Iran will keep its promises. 

Despite the fact that the two-week deadline for Iran to hand over the flight recorders, Jakubin said “still there is an understanding of the situation in Iran right now among politicians in Ukraine.”

Jakubin stressed that the public outcry and demand for justice among Ukrainians has gradually diminished in recent weeks. While the plane accident is still news in countries such as Canada, the media and public in Ukraine are more pre-occupied by coronavirus, as well as with new reforms for purchase of agricultural land getting underway, and economic struggles in general. 

“News about the plane is concise and only when there is a new development. Most of it was also before the quarantine started in Ukraine two weeks ago,” Jakubin said. 

 

Footage on Ukrainian Television Pressures Iran 

Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 departed from Tehran Airport at 6:20 on January 8. Two Iranian missiles shot down the airline soon after, killing everyone on board. Initially, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described the crash as “an unforgivable mistake.” In February, a recording was leaked to journalists on the Ukrainian tv channel TCH, revealing that the pilot and a control tower employee at Tehran Airport heard both the launch and the blast of the plane. Although on January 11, the Revolutionary Guards' air defense had admitted to accidentally shooting down the aircraft, changing their original explanation for the crash from a possible engine failure, the footage still put Iranian officials under pressure. 

Since then, Ukraine has called for the flight recorders to be handed over to its country’s officials, and has demanded compensation for the families of the people who lost their lives. The Ukrainian president rejected Iran’s compensation proposal of US$80,000 per family. 

“It seems to me that this is not enough,” the president told 1+1 on Sunday, February 2. “When the wife of [one of the] deceased says that her husband was the only breadwinner, she does not have a job, and their child has to enter [expensive daycare and later college], then $80,000 is not enough. Of course, human life is not measured by any money — but we will press for higher payments.”

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