One Year After Plane Downed, Victims' Governments Demand Justice from Iran

Canada and other nations whose citizens died in Iran's downing of a Ukrainian jetliner one year ago on Friday called on Tehran to come clean about the tragedy and "deliver justice" for the victims' families.

"We urgently call on Iran to provide a complete and thorough explanation of the events and decisions that led to this appalling plane crash," the coordination and response group made up of Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Sweden and Afghanistan said in a statement.

They also said they "will hold Iran to account to deliver justice and make sure Iran makes full reparations to the families of the victims and affected countries."

In Toronto, in Canada's Ontario province, nearly 200 people gathered under cloudy skies Friday afternoon in front of the University of Toronto before holding a march in honor of the crash victims, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Many people carried signs depicting the victims' photos and names. Other people wore black face masks printed with the word "Justice."

Among the marchers was Hamid Niazi, who lost his wife, daughter and son in the crash.

"I am not sure how I can explain that, I am still in (a) state of denial and disbelief. I can't believe that that happened to my family," he told AFP.

"Sometimes I think I am having a nightmare, that this couldn't happen."

In Kiev, where the doomed plane was bound, wreaths of flowers were laid on the site of a future memorial dedicated to the victims. A giant screen showed photos of the passengers and crew members.

'Thorough, Transparent and Credible Investigation'

At the end of December, Iran offered to pay US$150,000 to each of the families of the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, acknowledging that its forces had mistakenly shot it down on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board, including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

On Thursday, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne rejected the offer, saying: "The issue of compensation will not be set through unilateral statements by Iran but rather be subject to state-to-state negotiations."

In a separate statement on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once again demanded from Iran a "thorough, transparent and credible investigation into the cause of this tragedy."

He also vowed "to hold Iran accountable, including by ensuring that Iran makes full reparations for the victims of PS752 and their grieving families, and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice."

In mid-December, Canada's special counsel into the tragedy, former minister Ralph Goodale, issued a 70-page report arguing that Iran should not be "investigating itself" over the matter, emphasizing that many of the key details surrounding the crash remained unknown.

Trudeau, Champagne and several other members of the government spoke with victims' families on Thursday during a private virtual commemoration.

The prime minister also recently announced that January 8 would become known as Canada's National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Air Disasters.

Photo: IRNA

Canada Demands Cooperation in Iran Crash Ahead of International Meeting

Canada vowed Wednesday to get to the bottom of the plane crash that killed dozens of its nationals in Iran, ahead of a meeting in London with other countries that lost citizens.

Foreign ministers from Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan and Britain—which all had nationals who died—are scheduled to meet on Thursday to press for "full cooperation from Iranian authorities," Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau told a press conference.

"Canada will not accept a situation where we feel that we're not being given the information that we're looking for," he said.

"Make no mistake about it, Canada is going to get to the very bottom of this."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that his government intends to ask Tehran for compensation for the families of Canadian victims, which Ottawa officials said Wednesday was a top priority.

The Ukraine International Airlines flight was shot down by Iran in a catastrophic error shortly after taking off from Tehran last week, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

According to Ottawa, 57 of the victims were Canadian.

"Our first priority at this time is supporting the families and friends of the 57 Canadians who lost their lives in this tragedy," Garneau said.

"While we cannot bring back their loved ones, we can make sure that they receive compensation to help them navigate this difficult time."

Asked if Ottawa might provide monies to the victims' families and seek reimbursement from Iran later in order to fast-track what could otherwise be a lengthy process, Trudeau's parliament secretary Omar Alghabra said: "We are actively exploring these options and we hope to have a resolution in short order."

Iran has invited Canada's Transportation Safety Board to participate in its investigation, including the download and analysis of the black boxes.

Garneau said Iran has indicated it wishes to cooperate, noting that two Canadian investigators were due to examine the wreckage at Tehran's invitation.

But he added that he would like Iran, as lead investigator, to formalize Canada's involvement in the probe as an "accredited representative" to ensure access.

A week after the crash, Canadian universities observed a minute of silence in tribute to the victims, which included academics and students.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Protests Turn Violent in Ongoing Anger Over Downed Jet

By Aoyon Ashraf and Arsalan Shahla

Conditions boiled over as Iranians gathered for a second night of protests after the government admitted it had mistakenly downed a Ukrainian passenger jet, triggering global outrage as well as internal dissent.

Security forces stepped up their patrols as protesters, many of them students, came out in force in Tehran’s landmark Azadi Square and at Shahid Beheshti University, as well as in several regional cities.

Videos posted on social media, which could not immediately be verified by Bloomberg News, showed clashes between protesters and riot police, trails of blood on a main street, chants in opposition to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and calls to rid the country of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Protesters in the videos said arrests had been made and tear gas fired at crowds.

Anger spread across the globe after Iran’s leaders admitted on Saturday that its military accidentally shot down the Ukrainian jet on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, after mistaking it for a cruise missile.

The announcement was a dramatic reversal after the regime spent days accusing Western governments of “psychological warfare.” Iran’s government said Sunday it was forming a working group to probe the crash and compensate victims.

President Donald Trump, who a week ago threatened to bomb Iranian cultural sites, sent a series of tweets in Farsi over the weekend expressing support for protesters and warning Iran’s leaders not to intervene. “DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS,” Trump said.

Earlier, videos showed motorcycle-mounted security forces in green camouflage and anti-riot body armor stationed on Tehran’s central Valiasr Square. There was also a heavy police presence outside Tehran University.

In the face of the growing tensions, some of the organizers of a candlelight vigil Saturday—which turned into an angry protest against the regime—urged people on social media to avoid a rally initially planned for 6 p.m. local time, at Azadi Square.

Large crowds of students demonstrated outside Amir Kabir University in downtown Tehran late Saturday for the candlelight vigil, according to witnesses, before starting chants of “death to the dictator” and “resignation is not enough, a trial is needed!” Security forces intervened to disperse the demonstrators. The British Ambassador to Iran Rob Macaire was briefly detained after he attended the vigil, triggering an international incident.

Others used social media to vent their anger, contrasting the plane deaths with reports that the Iranian attack on the Iraqi bases on Wednesday when the plane was downed was specifically designed not to injure Americans.

The government’s admission that Iran’s security forces hold ultimate responsibility for the downing of the plane -- albeit at a time of conflict with their chief foe -- is a further blow for the country’s ruling clerics at a time when the economy has been devastated by U.S. sanctions. The admission appears to have undercut the sense of national unity that built after the Jan. 3 killing by the U.S. of General Qassem Soleimani, a hero to many Iranians for his work in Iraq and Syria helping to defeat Islamic State.

On Sunday, General Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, apologized for the jet downing during a speech n parliament, CBS reported, citing Iranian state television.

“I swear to almighty God that I wished I were in that plane and had crashed with them and had burned, and had not witnessed this tragic incident,” Salami said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Saturday said he was “outraged” and “furious” by the admission that Iran had shot down Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752. At least 57 Canadians were among the dead.

“What Iran has admitted to is very serious. Shooting down a civilian aircraft is horrific. Iran must take full responsibility,” Trudeau said Saturday at a press briefing in Ottawa. He earlier declared the incident a national tragedy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a televised address that he wants a full admission of guilt by Iran for what authorities there called a “disastrous mistake.”

Ukraine and Iran will work jointly to decode the black boxes of the doomed Ukrainian Boeing jet, Zelenskiy said. The Ukrainian government will make payments to the families of each of those who died in the crash, he said.

“I urge all international partners of Ukraine, the entire world community, to be united and to keep pressing until the full and final investigation into all the circumstances of this catastrophe is delivered,” said Zelenskiy.

The three-year-old Boeing Co. 737-800 was shot down about two minutes after takeoff from Tehran. The tragedy occurred hours after Iran started launching rockets against Iraqi bases where U.S. forces are stationed, in retaliation for Soleimani’s targeted killing. Nearly half the victims were Iranians, while many of the other passengers, including citizens of Canada, Sweden and the U.K., were of Iranian descent.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Iran was attempting to make itself the victim by blaming the jet incident, in part, on the escalation in tensions with Washington.

“Clearly, it was just a horrible mistake,” Esper said of downing of the Ukrainian commercial airliner in an interview with CBS News. “To somehow allow Iran to play the victim card with the international community is just ridiculous.”

The commander of the IRGC’s aerospace force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, blamed the tragedy on a communications failure. The operative who first mistakenly identified the plane as an incoming missile failed to get a second opinion due to a “disturbance” and had only 10 seconds to make a decision, he said. The army had previously said that “culprits” would be turned over to judicial authorities.

Iran’s supreme leader offered his condolences to the victims of the Ukrainian flight, while President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic “deeply regrets the disastrous mistake” and vowed compensation for the families of victims.

Meanwhile, the fate of the 2015 Vienna Nuclear Agreement between world powers and Iran hung in the balance. German, France and the U.K. on Sunday affirmed their commitment to the deal, which Trump pulled the U.S. out of in 2018.

Tehran this month announced it would stop abiding by limits on uranium enrichment, which had been agreed to in return for sanctions relief. The U.S. has instead pressed ahead with a series of measures against the Islamic Republic.

Additional U.S. sanctions announced last week, and a new executive order signed by Trump, “gave us additional capabilities to target both primary and secondary sanctions in different sectors, including the metals industry, construction, and travel,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday on Fox News.

Photo: IRNA

Iran Says It 'Unintentionally' Shot Down Ukraine Passenger Jet

By Marc Jourdier

Iran said on Saturday its armed forces "unintentionally" shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed after taking off from Tehran, killing all 176 people aboard.

President Hassan Rouhani said a military investigation had found "missiles fired due to human error" brought down the Boeing 737 on Wednesday, calling it an "unforgivable mistake".

The about-turn came after officials in Iran had categorically denied Western claims that the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) airliner had been struck by a missile in a catastrophic error.

The plane, which had been bound for Kiev, slammed into a field shortly after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport before dawn on Wednesday.

It came only hours after Iran's armed forces launched a wave of missiles at bases hosting American forces in Iraq in response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran's top generals, in a US drone strike.

Iran had come under mounting pressure to allow a "credible" investigation after video footage emerged appearing to show the plane being hit by a fast-moving object before a flash appears.

The Ukrainian and Canadian leaders called for accountability after Iran's admission.

The armed forces were first to acknowledge the error, saying the Boeing 737 had been mistaken for a "hostile plane" at a time when enemy threats were at the highest level.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake," Rouhani said on Twitter.

"Armed Forces' internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane & death of 176 innocent people."

Iran 'Saddened'

In a statement posted on the government's website, Rouhani said Iran's armed forces had been on alert for possible attacks by the Americans after the "martyrdom" of Soleimani.

"Iran is very much saddened by this catastrophic mistake and I, on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, express my deep condolences to the families of victims of this painful catastrophe," he said.

Rouhani added he had ordered "all relevant bodies to take all necessary actions (to ensure) compensation" to the families of those killed.

"This painful incident is not an issue that can be overcome easily."

He said "the perpetrators of this unforgivable mistake will be prosecuted".

"It is necessary to take necessary steps and measures to remove the weak points of the country's defence systems so that such a catastrophe is never repeated again."

The majority of passengers on UIA Flight PS752 were dual national Iranian-Canadians but also included Ukrainians, Afghans, Britons and Swedes.

Demands for Justice

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded Saturday that Iran punish those responsible for the downing of the plane and pay compensation.

"We expect Iran... to bring the guilty to the courts," the Ukrainian leader wrote on Facebook.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said closure and accountability were needed in the wake of the incident.

Trudeau also demanded "transparency, and justice for the families and loved ones of the victims".

"This is a national tragedy, and all Canadians are mourning together," his office said in a statement.

The disaster came as tensions soared in the region after the Soleimani killing, and fears grew of an all-out war between Iran and its arch-enemy the United States.

Washington said the Soleimani strike was carried out to prevent "imminent", large-scale attacks on American embassies.

Tehran had vowed "severe revenge" for the killing of Soleimani before launching missiles at the bases in Iraq.

"Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

"Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations."

Iran has invited the United States, Ukraine, Canada and others to join the crash investigation.

It is Iran's worst civil aviation disaster since 1988 when the US military said it shot down an Iran Air plane over the Gulf by mistake, killing all 290 people on board.

Video footage of the UIA 737, which The New York Times said it had verified, emerged and appeared to show the moment the airliner was hit.

A fast-moving object is seen rising at an angle into the sky before a bright flash appears, which dims and then continues moving forward. Several seconds later, an explosion is heard and the sky lights up.

Many airlines from around the world cancelled flights to and from Iran in the wake of the crash, or rerouted flights away from Iranian airspace.

Nations around the world have called for restraint and de-escalation, and fears of a full-blown conflict have subsided after US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran appeared to be standing down after targeting the US bases in Iraq.

Photo: IRNA