Family of Ukrainian plane crash victims reacts to Zarif's remarks
Mohammad Javad Zarif's conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart regarding the remarks of an Iranian MP about the downing of Flight 752 by the IRGC was met with a reaction from the victims' families. They say that the innocent passengers are buried and Zarif is busy negotiating.
"Innocent passengers of a plane are lying in graves, murderers appear on TV in defense of the Supreme Leader's residence as national heroes, and those protesting the crime are in prison. The Foreign Minister is still negotiating," this is part of a tweet by Hamed Esmailiyon, a spokesman for the families of the victims of Flight 752, in response to a phone conversation on Monday, April 27, with his Ukrainian counterpart, Kolba Dmytro.
In a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister regarding the downing of the Ukrainian plane by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian Foreign Minister denied the claim of Hassan Norouzi, the spokesman for the Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Commission, who had claimed in an interview with the Hamdali newspaper on April 7 that the type of movement of Ukrainian passenger plane 752 was “suspicious” and that “the control of this plane was in the hands of the United States.” He also claimed that, contrary to statements by Iranian officials, no one has been arrested or detained in connection with the downing of the aforementioned passenger plane.
Following these remarks, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, strongly condemned Hassan Norouzi's remarks and called on the Iranian government to "quickly respond" to their content. He considered these remarks to be a gross disrespect for the lives of the victims of the downing of the aforementioned plane.
Now, after three weeks, in a telephone conversation with the Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif denied the claims of the spokesperson for the Parliament's Judicial and Legal Committee and assured his Ukrainian counterpart that this was "not the official position of the government."
Iranian media reported only a few lines about the phone conversation between Mohammad Javad Zarif and Kolba Dmytro, without explaining its content. For example, Khabar Online wrote on Monday: “Mohammad Javad Zarif and Kolba Dmytro, the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ukraine, discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations, the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, and the Ukrainian plane crash in a phone conversation an hour ago.” ISNA did not write anything more than that, “Mohammad Javad Zarif and Kolba Dmytro, the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ukraine, discussed the latest developments in bilateral relations, the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, and the Ukrainian plane crash in a phone conversation an hour ago.”
But both the way the news was published and the content of the conversation were met with anger from social media users, especially the families of the plane victims. In particular, the news that the Islamic Republic was trying to stop Ukraine from pursuing the case by paying it money only increased the anger of the families. On the 100th day after the downing of Flight 752, news was released that Iran was seeking to reach an understanding with the governments of Ukraine and Canada so that these countries would stop pursuing the legal and criminal case in exchange for receiving money.
Leila Latifi, the mother of one of the victims of Ukraine Flight 752, asked Zarif on Twitter, "How much did you pay for every moment of my son's beautiful smile?"
On January 8, 2018, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by two missiles fired by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. 176 passengers and crew members were killed. For three days, the Islamic Republic authorities used various excuses to prove that the crash was caused by a technical fault. They were finally forced to tell the truth under international pressure. However, the families of the victims believe that the whole truth has not yet been revealed, and there is still much doubt and uncertainty about the handover of the plane's black box to a third country.
After the Islamic Republic revealed how the Ukrainian plane was shot down, the Iranian judiciary announced the arrest of several people in connection with the incident and promised that a “detailed” investigation was underway into the case. To date, there has been no news of the outcome of the investigation. Even Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force who took responsibility for the disaster, was hailed as a “hero” in the Islamic Republic’s media.
Even after admitting its involvement in the downing of the Ukrainian plane, state media outlets tried to somehow blame the US for the crime. For example, Mashreq News, a website close to hard-line fundamentalists, wrote on January 11 that the attack was carried out because “due to the unprecedented increase in air movements in the region, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran were put on the highest level of alert in order to respond to potential threats” and “In such sensitive and critical conditions, Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 departed from Imam Khomeini Airport and, while turning, was completely approaching a sensitive military center of the IRGC and at the altitude and flight pattern of a hostile target, in which case the plane was hit unintentionally due to human error.”
This is despite the fact that Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, recently said in an interview: “The day we hit Ain al-Assad, we thought they would respond… and we had prepared 400 targets to hit.” However, he did not explain why, with such a prediction, they did not suspend passenger flights and caused the disaster of shooting down the Ukrainian plane.
Source: DW
