Ukrainian experts recover downed plane in Tehran

Recovery experts from the Rescue Service of Ukraine have been sifting through the wreckage of the Ukraine International Airline that crashed last Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians.

The jetliner, a Boeing 737 en route to Kyiv, went down on the outskirts of Tehran shortly after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport.

After pointing to a technical failure and insisting for three days that the Iranian armed forces were not to blame, Iranian authorities on Saturday admitted accidentally shooting it down in the face of mounting evidence and accusations by Western leaders.

Over the weekend Ukraine demanded full access to the crash wreckage for 45 Ukrainian experts.

It also wants Iran to punish those responsible for the crash and pay compensation to relatives of the dead.

The military said it mistook the plane for a hostile target after launching a ballistic missile attack on two bases housing US troops in Iraq.