Ukrainian president expresses condolences over plane crash in Iran

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims of the Ukrainian Airlines plane crash which occured in southern Tehran, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reported on Wednesday.

"Scary news from the Middle East. This morning, after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA), the Ukrainian Airlines passenger plane crashed near the airport. According to preliminary reports, all passengers and crew were killed. My sincere condolences to the families and relatives of all passengers and crew," Zelensky said on Wednesday.

The ill-fated Ukrainian UIA Airlines flight PS-752 was a Boeing 737 aircraft, with 176 on board bound for Kiev Wednesday morning, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Ali Khashani, a spokesman for IKA, told Iranian news agency Fars that the accident was likely caused by technical problems.