Tehran, Dec 31 (IANS): The Iranian government has approved allocation of $150,000 as a compensation for the victims of the Ukrainian passenger plane crash which took place near the Tehran airport earlier this yea.

"According to the decision of the cabinet, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development is obliged to arrange for the payment of $150,000 or its equivalent to the families and survivors of each of the victims as soon as possible," Xinhua news agency quoted the Legal Department of the Presidential Institution as saying on Wednesday.

"This compensation does not preclude the pursuit of the criminal aspect of the matter in the competent judicial authority," it said.

The compensation should be paid to the heirs and survivors of the victims without any discrimination, it added.

The Boeing-737, en route from Tehran to Kiev, was shot down by two rockets shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8.

The accident resulted in the deaths of all 167 passengers and nine crew members on board, who were citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, and the UK.

Later, Iran's armed forces confirmed that an "unintentional" launch of a military missile by the country was the cause of the incident.

In July, the transcript of the black boxes from the plane confirmed the fact of an illegal interference with the plane.