Iran and Ukraine open new talks over downed plane

Iran hosted officials from Ukraine in a second round of talks on Monday over compensation for a Kiev bound passenger plane mistakenly shot down in January, state media reported. Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport on January 8. Iran admitted days later that its forces accidentally shot down the plane, killing all 176 people on board, after firing two missiles amid heightened US-Iran tensions. State news agency IRNA said the talks were held at the foreign ministry in Tehran and that they would continue until Wednesday. The first round of negotiations were held in Kiev in July, with the Ukrainian authorities saying they were "cautiously optimistic" about the process. Ukrainian deputy foreign minister Yevgeniy Yenin, who headed the delegation, met with Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday, after meeting with his deputy Mohsen Baharvand earlier in the day. Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne "is actively working with his international partners to ensure a thorough and credible investigation," his spokeswoman Syrine Khoury said on Monday.<br/>