OTTAWA (REUTERS) – Iran has issued eight more visas to a team of Canadian officials in the wake of a fatal plane crash near Teheran and most members of the group should be in Teheran on Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Sunday (Jan 12).

Champagne said on Twitter that three officials from the rapid deployment team had flown to Iran on Saturday to set up a base of operations and a further eight would travel on Monday.

The last member will arrive in Ankara on Monday.

“We expect the (team) to be fully in place to do their important work by Jan 14,” Champagne said.

Canada says it wants to take part in the crash investigation and help the families of the 57 Canadians who died.

The team includes consular officials and members of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board.

Ottawa does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, which says its forces shot down the plane by mistake.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on Saturday to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Trudeau told reporters Rouhani had committed to collaborating with Canadian investigators.

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