UN criticizes Iran's report on Ukrainian plane crash

A UN expert says Iran's report on the "unintentional" downing of a Ukrainian airliner last year is full of ambiguities and contradictions, and he has called for a more honest account from Iran.

A United Nations expert, after examining the causes and aspects of the downing of Ukrainian airliner Flight 752, has concluded that Iran did not provide a correct and honest account of the incident.

Ms. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has criticized Iran for "knowingly and intentionally" distorting the circumstances and circumstances of the plane crash.

"The ambiguities in Iran's official reports serve to create maximum ambiguity and minimum clarity," Ms. Callamard said in Geneva on Tuesday (February 23).

According to this UN expert, Iran has violated various aspects of human rights by shooting down the plane and creating confusion afterward.

He published a 45-page letter that he sent to Islamic Republic officials last December with numerous questions, but has not yet received any answers.

Such letters usually remain confidential for up to 60 days.

In Ms. Callamard's opinion, the Iranian government's explanations have so far been inadequate: for example, the Islamic Republic's authorities have not explained why the airport's radar system did not work properly.

Why haven't the dimensions and flight path of the plane been reported?

Why did looters get around the plane and the survivors of the victims were unable to retrieve their belongings?

And many other reasons…

The Islamic Republic of Iran's reports about the downing of Flight 752 have so far neither pleased the survivors nor the countries involved, such as Canada, Ukraine, France, Sweden, and Afghanistan.

The aforementioned countries, whose nationals were among the victims of the plane crash, have repeatedly called on the Islamic Republic to provide a full report "on the events and decisions that led to the disaster."

Introduce the officials!

On January 8, 2019, a Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane was shot down by two missiles from the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force's defense system shortly after takeoff from Tehran International Airport. All 176 people on board the plane lost their lives in the incident.

On board the plane that was shot down were 57 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 17 Swedes, 4 Afghans, and 4 Britons.

In a meeting on Wednesday, January 7, this year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 "regrettable" and said: "From that moment on, we told the officials to announce everything to the people; on the same day, we said that those responsible for this incident should be tried in a fair court."

Despite evidence and reports that the plane was hit by an IRGC air defense missile, Islamic Republic officials vehemently denied the reports for three days and provided false information.

Finally, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, took responsibility for the disaster in a television interview, saying that the IRGC's air defense system had "mistakenly identified the Ukrainian passenger plane as a cruise missile" and fired at it.

One of the criticisms that survivors of the victims and senior Ukrainian and Canadian officials have repeatedly made over the past year has been the Islamic Republic's refusal to provide a clear and complete report on the incident and its silence about the perpetrators and main officials responsible for firing a missile at the passenger plane.

Source: DW