Top Iran security official says Tehran did not hide cause of Ukraine plane crash

Debris of a plane belonging to Ukraine International Airlines, that crashed after taking off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport, is seen on the outskirts of Tehran, Iran January 8, 2020. — Wana pic via Reuters

DUBAI, Jan 12 — A senior Iranian security official said today Iran had no intention to conceal the cause of the crash of a Ukrainian airliner which the Iranian military admitted it had mistakenly shot down, the state-run IRIB news agency reported.

“From the start, there was no intention to conceal the causes of the accident, especially since its nature and technical characteristics ... make it virtually impossible to conceal,” the secretary of Iran’s top national security body, Ali Shamkhani, was quoted as saying by IRIB. — Reuters