Deadline Passed - Ukraine , Canada, Sweden, and the UK are Going to the International Court of Justice over the Downing of Flight PS752 in January 2020.

Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine are to move to the International Court of Justice in their bid to hold Iran accountable for the downing of an airliner by Iranian forces in 2020 that killed several people, they said on Thursday.

The four countries, which make up the International Coordination and Response Group formed to seek accountability and reparations for the victims' families, announced the move Thursday after the deadline passed for Iran to submit to arbitration under the Montréal Convention.

Most of the 176 people killed when Iran shot down the Ukrainian Boeing B737 jet operated by the flight PS752 near Tehran in January 2020 were citizens from those four countries, which created a coordination group that seeks to hold Iran to account.

Canada press release read that the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 today issued the following joint statement:

“We, the members of the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752, representing Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, note that no agreement on the organization of arbitration was reached between Iran and the Coordination Group pursuant to Article 14 of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation.

“Accordingly, the Coordination Group intends to pursue our collective effort to ensure Iran is held accountable for the unlawful downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by referring the dispute to the International Court of Justice as soon as is practicable.”

On the other hand, Iran has been maintaining that its Revolutionary Guards accidentally shot down the Boeing 737 jet and blamed a misaligned radar and an error by the air defense operator at a time when tensions were high between Tehran and Washington.

The four counties had earlier asked the Islamic republic of Iran to submit to arbitration under the rules of the 1971 Montreal Convention, an international treaty which requires states to prevent and punish offences against civil aviation. The deadline for a settlement passed on 29 June.

The convention requires parties to prohibit, prevent and punish certain offences involving aircraft, including the unlawful and intentional destruction of an aircraft in service. Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, the U.K. and Iran are all parties to the convention, which was signed in Montreal in 1971.

Iran had also separately filed a complaint against Canada at the United Nation’s top court, accusing Canada of violating international obligations by allowing people to seek damages against Tehran. Ottawa said it was analyzing Iran‘s application and “will take the appropriate next steps as per the International Court of Justice’s procedures.”

Last year, an Ontario court awarded C$107 million ($81 million), plus interest, to the families of six people who died when the Iranian Revolutionary Guards downed the Ukraine International Airlines plane.

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At the time, Iran was on edge about possible attacks after it fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the killing days before of its most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. missile strike.

TSB-canada had asked Iran’s AAIB to answer 3 important questions !

• What was the sequence of events, including the technical, human and organizational factors, that led to the missiles being fired and ultimately the downing of PS752 ?
• What was the basis for the decision to keep Iran’s airspace open during a period of heightened military alert after Iran had launched missiles into Iraq ?  and
• Why did civilian airlines continue to operate in Iran’s airspace in the hours following Iran’s launch of missiles into Iraq?

Canada had cut the diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 and listed the country as a supporter of extremism. It also recently imposed sanctions on Iran over alleged human rights abuses and the killing of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in the custody of Iran‘s morality police that enforced strict dress codes.

The families of the victims of Flight PS752 began their legal action for compensation in 2020. Last year, an Ontario court awarded them $107 million, but lawyers warned that actually getting Iran to pay the damages would be very difficult. Iran did not defend itself in court, making it a default judgment.

Lawyers representing the families went to court seeking permission to seize three properties in Ottawa and withdraw money from bank accounts at the Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank maintained by Iran.

Mélanie Joly , Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada , took it to the social media and said,

"Time is up. We will proceed with taking Iran to the International Court of Justice over the downing of flight PS752, as we promised to the families of the victims. Together, we will seek the transparency, accountability and justice families deserve. Impunity is not an option"

On 18th march 21, Transportation safety board of Canada released it's comments on the Iran’s final safety investigation report into the downing of PS752 (On March 17, 2021).

The Aircraft Involved 

The aircraft was a Boeing 737-8KV serial number 38124, registration UR-PSR. It was three-and-a-half years old when it was shot down, having first flown on 21 June 2016. It was delivered to UIA on 19 July 2016, the first 737 Next Generation aircraft purchased by the airline.

Read more on PS752....