Iran in trouble as four nations launch legal action over 2020 downing of Ukraine plane

Four countries – Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK – have taken Iran to the International Court of Justice over the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 in January 2020. They are seeking damages for the families of the 176 citizens or residents killed in the incident.

Three years back, a couple of missiles fired by a Revolutionary Guards air defense unit hit the Ukraine plane after it took off from Tehran. Days later, Iran admitted to mistakenly downing the aircraft. It happened during a time of high tension between Tehran and Washington.

The Revolutionary Guards’ Aerospace Force said an air defense unit had mistaken the plane for a US missile. An Iranian court ordered imprisonment sentences for ten armed forces personnel in April. But victims’ families rejected the verdicts, calling it “meaningless and unacceptable”.

Will Iran Publicly Acknowledge Its Mistake?

In the application to the top UN court, the four countries said Iran “violated a series of obligations” under a convention on civil aviation by shooting down the jet. They accused Tehran of not taking all practicable measures to prevent the unfortunate accident.

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Iran couldn’t conduct a fair and transparent investigation and prosecution, the group continued. They want the court to order Tehran to publicly acknowledge its mistake, make an apology to the families and try to assure everyone the incident won’t repeat itself.

As evident through the application, the four countries also want Iran to return all missing belongings of the victims and fully compensate the families too. It remains to be seen how the tense situation further develops.

Keep an eye out on The Gulf Independent for the updates.