pic: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
The escalation in the Iran-USA standoff reached Sweden early this morning when a plane leaving Tehran for Kiev burst into flames and crashed, killing all on board. Swedish casualties are currently at ten, but other sources have the figure at seventeen.
“It’s a terrible and shocking event. Many Swedes have been lost. My thoughts go to the victims and their families” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Anne Linde. UD’s spokesperson Anna Lundbladh told DN that the ministry was working on site through the embassy in Tehran to get better information.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven echoed his minister’s comments, saying he was thinking of the victims, and called for an investigation into the crash’s causes.
Swede Peter Saffer has already been appointed the Swedish expert liaison for the crash, in accordance with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The plane was in the air only a few minutes before it crashed. According to Iranian authorities there were no distress signals received.
The plane was first announced to have suffered a mechanical failure, but that idea has since been thrown into doubt as the plane was less than four years old and the pilots were experienced. The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (haverikommissionen) have since said the accident’s causes will have to be determined.
Questions have also been raised as to whether the crash was a tragic accident or if it could somehow be connected to the rapid and recent escalation in tensions between the USA and Iran. The two black boxes from the plane have been recovered, but where their contents will be analysed is unresolved. Hans Kjäll, senior flight safety analyst at Nordic Safety Analysis Group, told SvD that there is uncertainty regarding Iran’s resources at this time. Normally, also the airline’s manufacturer, Boeing, would be involved with recovering the information but at this sensitive political juncture, their efforts could be unwelcome. Even what role and access Ukrainian authorities could be granted is uncertain. If Iran goes along with it, the boxes could also be sent to the French aviation security authority.
Here in Sweden, the names of the casualties will be released only after their relatives and family have been notified.