The US National Transportation Safety Board has accepted Iran’s invitation to participate in an investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian plane in Tehran, Reuters reported. 

The department said it had appointed an accredited representative to investigate the disaster.

“The NTSB has replied to our chief investigator and has announced an accredited representative,” Farhad Parvaresh, Iran’s representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization, part of the United Nations, told Reuters.

A Reuters source said what the representative of the department could do, taking into account US sanctions against Iran. The NTSB said in a statement that the department “continues to monitor the situation surrounding the crash and evaluate its level of participation in the investigation.”

The US may take part in the investigation, given that the plane of the American manufacturing company Boeing crashed.

Canada, whose citizens also died in a plane crash, also appointed an expert. Representatives of Ukraine are also in Iran.

Sweden and Afghanistan, which had some passengers on board, have also been notified. France may also be involved as it was one of the countries where the engines were made, Parvaresh said.

Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the plane was probably shot down as a result of an accidental missile strike from Iran. The US government also believes that Iran shot down the plane by mistake. However, Tehran denies these assumptions.

The Tehran-Kyiv plane crashed a few minutes after take-off on the morning of January 8, leaving 176 people killed.