Iran taken to UN court over 2020 downing of Ukrainian passenger jet

Iran has been taken to a UN court by the UK, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine over the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020.

The case, which is now in the International Court of Justice, was made to ensure that Iran offers a formal apology and pays compensation to the families of the 176 victims, many of whom were nationals of the said countries.

The Ukrainian passenger jet was shot down shortly after it had taken off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport for Kyiv on 8 January 2020.

"Today’s legal action reflects our unwavering commitment to achieving transparency, justice and accountability for the families of the victims," the countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday. The case was filed after Iran failed to respond to a request for arbitration, made last December.

Iran denied downing the jet immediately after the incident. However, it later rescinded these denials, saying an air defence commander from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had mistaken the jet for a US cruise missile.

Iran and Ukraine had decades of good relations. What happened?

✍ @pauliddon https://t.co/hPEF1eEfYw

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) November 20, 2022

The commander was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and ordered to pay fines to the victims’ families by an Iranian court earlier this year. Nine other personnel were also sentenced during the trial.

However, the countries who filed the case argue that Iran "failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the unlawful and intentional commission of an offence" and "failed to conduct an impartial, transparent and fair criminal investigation and prosecution consistent with international law."

The filing alleges that Iran withheld or destroyed evidence, blamed other countries and low-level Revolutionary Guard personnel, "threatened and harassed the families of the victims seeking justice" and failed to report details of the incident to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The downing happened on the same day Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on US troops in Iraq in retaliation for an American drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.

Last week, Iran filed a case against Canada linked to the downing, accusing Ottawa of flouting state immunity in allowing relatives of terrorism victims to seek reparations from Tehran.

Associated Press contributed to this report