Afghanistan has reacted to the death of 176 people after Ukrainian Boeing-737 crashed near an airport in the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.
The crash happened at a time when Iran was threatening to go to war with the United States, US, over the killing of General Qasem Soleimani.
Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that ten of its nationals were among the victims of the crashed Ukrainian passenger jet.
“We are saddened to learn that 10 Afghan nationals have lost their lives in a plane crash in Tehran this morning,” the ministry wrote on Twitter.
The Afghan embassy in Tehran added that it was preparing to identify, transport and hand over the bodies to the family members of the victims.
The crash of Ukraine International Airlines came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US soldiers
The missiles were targeted at the Ain al-Assad base in Anbar province and a facility near Erbil’s airport in northern Iraq very early Wednesday morning.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Vadym Prystaiko, had said that there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board — the Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew.
There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals.
