Iran said Saturday it had unintentionally shot down the Ukrainian airliner that crashed this week outside Tehran killing 176 people, calling it an "unforgivable mistake". The statement sparked some relief that at least the immediate cause of the disaster would not be concealed amid international calls for a full accounting and compensation for the victims.
Iran has invited the United States, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the crash investigation.
The plane was carrying Iranians, Canadians, Ukrainians, Swedes, Afghans, Germans and Britons.
Herewith are some of the remarks by global leaders in response to Iran's acknowledgement of its responsibility for the catastrophe.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has told his Ukrainian counterpart that those behind the downing of the Ukrainian airliner will be brought to justice, the Ukranian presidency said.
Rouhani told Volodymyr Zelensky that "all the persons involved in this air disaster will be brought to justice", it said.
The Iranian head of state "fully recognises the tragedy that has occurred due to the mistakes of soldiers of this country" and apologised, it added.
Zelensky asked Tehran to allow the bodies of the 11 Ukrainian victims to be repatriated "by January 19" and said Ukrainian diplomats had produced a list of steps to be taken to "resolve the compensation issue". "The Iranian side agrees with Ukraine on this issue," the statement added.
After three days of denials, Tehran admitted early Saturday that it had "unintentionally" shot down the jet after a missile operator mistook the plane for a cruise missile.
In a message posted on Facebook shortly after the admission, Zelensky demanded that Tehran ensure that justice was done and compensation paid.
The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737, which had been bound for Kiev, slammed into a field shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport before dawn on Wednesday.
The downing of the plane came hours after Tehran had launched a barrage of missiles at bases housing American troops in Iraq, retaliating for the killing of commander Qasem Soleimani in a US strike.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with the country mourning the loss of so many citizens, said closure and accountability were needed after Iran's announcement.
He demanded "transparency, and justice for the families and loved ones of the victims.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called for international efforts to address the escalating crisis in Libya.
Libya has seen a recent escalation of the turmoil that has gripped the oil-rich country since a NATO-backed uprising killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with strongman Khalifa Haftar trying to capture Tripoli from the UN-recognised government.
Germany and Russia are both acting as mediators in a conflict Berlin has warned could become a "second Syria" and the topic topped the agenda as they met for talks at the Kremlin.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly said it was "important to seize this moment to give space to discussions and negotiations" on the Iran nuclear deal. "The lessons that we should learn from the dramatic sequence of events that we have experienced... is that we must put an end to this escalation," Parly told France Inter radio.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said "it was important that Iran brought clarity to this issue. "Now Tehran needs to draw the right consequences in the continued appraisal of this dreadful catastrophe, and take measures to ensure that something like this cannot happen again," Mass told Funke media.
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