(Headline abbreviated, original headline: New Zealand joins partners in calling for full investigation into air crash in Iran)

Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters says that developments suggesting a surface-to-air missile is responsible for the downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines flight in Iran is disastrous news.

“New Zealand offers its deepest sympathies to the families of the 176 victims. It is a tragic loss of life for all countries involved,” Mr Peters says.

“We join others in calling for a thorough, independent and unimpeded investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

“We, through our Embassy in Tehran, have offered assistance to the Canadians in its consular response to the crash as Canada does not maintain an Embassy in Iran.

“The situation in the region has calmed in the last 24-hours but remains unstable. We continue to call for diplomacy at this time of heightened tensions,” Mr Peters says.

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