REUTERS

Iran's Defense Minister Amir Hatami said on Wednesday that the Iranian defense industry has been asked to help repair the seriously damaged black box of the Ukrainian airliner downed near Tehran January 8.

After being repaired, the black box is to be decoded, Hatami added, according to IRNA news agency.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Kyiv-bound UIA flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of January 8. It was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. Two passengers and the crew members were Ukrainians. There were also 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three citizens of Germany and the United Kingdom each. There were no survivors.

Видео дня

Read alsoPS752 downing: Ukraine releases intercepted tower communications proving Iran was aware of missile launch all along

On January 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani officially admitted that the Ukrainian airliner had been shot down by accident as a result of a "human error" and that those responsible would be held accountable.

On February 2, intercepted communications between Tehran Airport's air traffic control tower and the second pilot of Iran's Aseman Airlines flight at the time of the crash of flight PS752 were released by TSN.Tyzhden. Tehran blamed the Ukrainian authorities for leaking what it described as confidential evidence, and said it would no longer share investigation materials with Ukraine.

Tehran has not yet handed over the PS752 black boxes to Kyiv, although the Iranian authorities do not have equipment to analyze them.