Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have asked the International Court of Justice to hold Iran responsible for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane over Tehran that killed all on board and provide compensation to the families of those killed.
The ICJ made public Wednesday the filing in which the four governments say Iran did not take “all practicable measures” to prevent the 2020 incident, then failed to conduct a fair and transparent investigation, withheld evidence and harassed victims’ families.
Iranian forces shot down the jet shortly after takeoff from Tehran. Hours earlier, Iran had fired missiles at an Iraqi base used by U.S. troops. Iran said its forces mistook the Ukrainian jet for an enemy threat.
All 176 people on board the plane died. The passengers included nationals and residents of Afghanistan, Canada, Iran, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK. Most were Iranians and Iranian-Canadians who were flying to Kyiv en route to Canada where many had been studying.
The ICJ filing calls for the court to order Iran to publicly apologize, provide assurances a similar act will not take place, return missing belongings to victims’ families and provide full compensation “for the material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families.”
