Families of Ukrainian Plane Victims Call for Pressure on Iran

Families of victims of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 have called on Canadian political leaders to remain committed to “truth and justice” in pursuing this matter.

Newspaper “Ottawa Citizen” reported on Saturday, September 27, that the association of families of victims of this flight has emphasized its request to Canadian police to launch criminal investigations to identify the actual perpetrators of this incident.

These families have also reiterated their call for the Canadian government to pressure the Iranian government through the International Court of Justice and the International Civil Aviation Organization to cooperate in the investigations.

Javad Soleimani, husband of Elnaaz Nabaei, one of the victims of the Ukrainian plane that was shot down in December 2019 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defense near Tehran, told Voice of America that in early June of this year, several countries including Canada, Ukraine, and five other nations whose citizens were lost in the crash warned the Islamic Republic that it must clarify matters within two months. He emphasized that this period has ended.

Mr. Soleimani further noted that while the families of victims are seeking to bring the Islamic Republic before the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, the families are also demanding “the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, the launch of criminal investigations in Canada, and the imposition of targeted sanctions against officials of the Islamic Republic.”

Referring to the upcoming elections in Canada, he also said that regardless of which party wins the Canadian election, the families of victims of the Ukrainian flight will cooperate with that government.

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, December 8, 2019, a Boeing 737 passenger aircraft of Ukrainian Airlines with 176 passengers on board, traveling from Tehran to Kyiv in Ukraine, was shot down by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defense fire shortly after taking off from Tehran airport.

Iranian officials claimed for several days that the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction, but the United States specifically reported the downing of the plane at the time. After several days, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps eventually admitted that it had mistakenly targeted the aircraft. This delay in revealing the truth and the regime’s deception led to public anger and widespread protests.

Source: Voice of America