Iran says black box of Ukrainian airliner is damaged, further delaying investigation

Iran said the black box of a Ukrainian airliner it mistakenly shot down is significantly damaged, complicating an already protracted investigation of an incident that sparked domestic protests and angry calls for greater govt accountability. After Iran’s military admitted to shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, Iranian officials indicated the country would send the flight data recorders recovered from the jet’s wreckage to another country—likely Ukraine or France. But Tehran has since refused to hand over the black boxes, despite admitting it doesn’t have the necessary technology to assess them. Wednesday, Iranian defence minister Amir Hatami said the box was too damaged to read and needed to be repaired first. <br/>