LONDON, December 16. /TASS/. The UK, Canada, Ukraine and Sweden called on the Iranian authorities to enter into talks on payment of damages for the downing of Boeing plane to the Ukraine International Airlines, otherwise, they will bring the case to the international court, according to the joint statement released on Thursday.
"However, due to the apparent reluctance of the Islamic Republic of Iran to address this matter in a constructive and timely manner, our response to Iran indicates that they have until January 5, 2022, to confirm whether they are willing to engage in negotiations with the Coordination Group, after which we will have to assume that further attempts to negotiate reparations with Iran are futile. The Coordination Group will have to seriously consider other actions to resolve this matter within the framework of international law," the statement reads.
The International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of the flight noted that it "had been nearly two years since the downing of Flight PS752, and yet the Islamic Republic of Iran had shown no interest in adhering to its international legal obligations." "The Coordination Group’s patience is wearing thin. The Group stands in solidarity with the victims’ loved ones and remains united in its objective to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for the acts and omissions by civilian and military officials that led to the deaths of 176 innocent people," according to the statement.
On January 8, 2020, the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 plane crashed shortly after takeoff near Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, killing 176 people on board. Among them were citizens of Afghanistan, Germany, Iran, Canada, Ukraine, the UK and Sweden. On January 11, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff released a statement admitting the plane had been mistakenly shot down. According to the Iranian military, the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile by the air defense force. After that, Iran delivered the black boxes of the Ukrainian flight, while Kiev’s top diplomat Dmitry Kuleba castigated this move as an attempt to cover up the actual reasons of the accident.
In June, Iranian Supreme Court Spokesperson Golyam Hossein Ismaili announced that Tehran was going to pay full compensation amounting to $150,000 to the families of the victims. Earlier, the spokesperson stated that in the near future, the court would hold the trial of those allegedly responsible for the tragedy.