Canada, UK, Sweden, and Ukraine Lodge Complaint Against Iran with the UN Over Downing of Flight PS752
Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Ukraine on the fourth anniversary of the fatal air crash, filed a complaint with the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) against Iran over the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020, resulting in the loss of 176 lives, as reported by Voice of America.
The Boeing 737-800 was shot down shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, 2020. The four countries, whose citizens were on board the plane, accused Tehran of unlawfully using missiles against a civilian aircraft.
"Today, we jointly initiated proceedings to settle the dispute at the International Civil Aviation Organization against the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding the use of weapons against a civilian aircraft in flight," the countries said in a joint statement.
Seeking compensation for the families of the victims, the four countries have already filed a case against Iran in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Now, they have initiated a legal proceeding in Montreal, asserting that Iran failed to conduct a fair criminal investigation as required by international law.
Only three days after the tragedy, Iran admitted that its Revolutionary Guard had accidentally shot down the Boeing 737, which was heading to Kyiv, blaming a malfunctioning radar and operator error for the incident. Last year, an Iranian court handed down the first sentences to 10 unnamed defendants in connection with the incident, including the operator of the air defence system. Iran denies allegations of opaque cooperation and has filed a case against Canada in the International Court, claiming that Canada breached its duties by allowing civil claims for damages against Iran.
In response, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that his government is exploring ways to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. "We know that more needs to be done to hold the regime accountable, and we will continue our work, including ongoing efforts to find ways of holding the IRGC accountable for listing as a terrorist organization," said the Prime Minister. Trudeau made this comment yesterday during a ceremony honouring the memory of the 176 victims of Flight PS752, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.