The Islamic Republic of Iran has finally broken its silence over claims that its security forces brought down a Ukraine International Airlines plane, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reported.
It's civil aviation boss rubbished claims that the airliner came down after being hit by a surface to missile, saying that he was sure that the ill-fated was not targeted by a missile.
"What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane," Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said on Friday as quoted by NBC News.
The position of Iran on the crash is in sharp contrast to the position of western intelligence sources.
The United States of America, The United Kingdom, and Canada have claimed that they believe that the ill-fated passenger plane came tumbling down after it was hit by a surface to air missile.
Abedzadeh said that had the plane been hit by a missile then the crash site would have resembled that of the Malaysian Airlines plane that was shot down in Ukraine allegedly by pro-Russia soldiers.
"If they are really sure, they should come and show their findings to the world in accordance with international standards," he said as quoted by NBC.