Iranian officials say work to decode the black box from an NITC tanker that sank off China was due to start on Monday.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Iran’s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said all beneficiary parties will be present, reported Iran’s MEHR News Agency.
The senior MP made the remarks on the sidelines of a service held on Sunday in Tehran to commemorate the 30 Iranian crew members of the 164,000-dwt Sanchi (built 2008).
Meanwhile, China has defended its efforts to save the crew of the Sanchi, reported state-owned news agency China News Service.
“Chinese officials and rescue workers did everything they could to handle the situation in the East China Sea after burning for a week,” China’s ambassador to Iran Pang Sen said at a press conference in Tehran.
He added that immediately after the collision, the Chinese president and prime minister had ordered a special working group to carry out rescue operations.
The ambassador said China has organized a dozen of domestic and foreign ships into the 24-hour comprehensive rescue operation.
He said the rescuers sent by Iranian government also got the professional equipment support from China.
He rejected the claim that China let the tanker burn in order to prevent environmental pollution, emphasizing that rescuing the lives of people has always been the top priority of the Chinese government.
The ambassador said the operation was hampered by huge flames, poisonous gas and rough seas.
China’s rescue operation has always been open, transparent and public, Pang said.
The Chinese search and rescue teams did retrieve three bodies and the black box from the vessel before it eventually sank.
“China’s ambassador to Tehran paid a visit to parliament to brief the Iranian MPs on the measures undertaken by China to extinguish the fire,” added Boroujerdi.
“What is clear is that the Chinese government did its best to put out the fire embracing the oil tanker but unfortunately the scale of disaster was so big that no one could help the crew,” he added.
