Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain on Wednesday, took Iran to the International Court of Justice in order to seek damages for families of passengers on a plane that was shot down by Tehran in the year 2020, said the tribunal.
The incident had claimed the lives of all 176 people aboard the Ukrainian jetliner downed by Iran.
As per the case at the United Nation’s top court, Iran “violated a series of obligations” under a convention on civil aviation by shooting down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 after take-off from Tehran.
On January 8, 2020, Iran admitted that its military had targeted the Kyiv-bound Boeing 737-800 plane calling it a “disastrous mistake”.
In their application to the court, the four countries said Iran had breached “a series of obligations” against the Montreal Convention, targeted at safeguarding the security of civilian air travel.
They said that Iran did not take all possible measures to avert the downing of Flight PS752 and also failed to conduct an impartial, transparent and fair criminal probe and prosecution.
They asked the court to “order full reparation for all injury caused” and to make Iran pay “full compensation to the applicants for the material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families”.
Iran should also return the belongings of the victims and publicly acknowledge its “internationally wrongful acts”.
The majority of the victims of the incident who lost their lives were from the four countries, which created a coordination group aiming to hold Iran to account.
Iran, in a statement, had said that its forces accidentally shot down the Boeing 737 jet during the time when the tensions between Tehran and Washington were heightened.
A final report issued in the year 2021, held a misaligned radar and an error by an air defence operator responsible for the tragic incident.
Canada at the time said the report made “no attempt to answer critical questions about what truly happened”.
The listing of the Islamic Republic as a terror sponsor in 2012, when Canada had severed its diplomatic ties, shut down its Tehran embassy and asked the Iranian diplomats to leave the country, was challenged by Iran.
Iran has accused Canada of “alleged violations of its immunities” through a series of diplomatic, political and legal measures which came after the 2012 terror listing, said the Hague-based tribunal in a statement.
(With inputs from agencies)
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