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Iran raises objections to UN Court jurisdiction in downed Ukrainian plane case

According to the document, the Iranian side has challenged the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of the application filed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and Ukraine

THE HAGUE, January 23. /TASS/. Iran has raised preliminary objections in the case of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 that was shot down in 2020, the press service of the UN International Court of Justice said in press release.

According to the document, the Iranian side has challenged the court’s jurisdiction and the admissibility of the application filed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and Ukraine.

"Judge Julia Sebutinde, Vice-President of the Court and Acting President, fixed 16 May 2025 as the time-limit for the presentation by Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom of a written statement of their observations and submissions on the preliminary objections raised," it said.

Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran Airport for Kiev on January 8, 2020. Among its 176 passengers who died in the crash were citizens of Afghanistan, the UK, Germany, Iran, Canada, Sweden and Ukraine. On January 11, 2020, the Iranian military said that it had shot down the Boeing, mistaking the plane for an "enemy target" as it was flying near a military facility. Tehran handed over to Kiev a draft technical report on the causes of the crash. Dmitry Kuleba, Ukraine’s then foreign minister, called it an attempt to conceal the true causes of the crash.

The lawsuit with the UN International Court of Justice was lodged by the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and Ukraine on July 4, 2023 under Article 14 of the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation." The applicants demand that the Court bind Iran to publicly acknowledge that its actions ran counter to international law, apologize to the families of the crash victims, take measures to prevent such incidents, prosecute the suspects, and pay compensations.

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