100 Days Since IRGC Fired on Passenger Plane; Survivors Protest Islamic Republic’s Cover-up Attempts

100 days have passed since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ missile attack on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which killed 176 people, yet officials of the Islamic Republic remain unwilling to account for the families of the victims and the authorities of the countries investigating this tragedy.

Hamed Esmaeilion, a writer and dentist residing in Canada who lost his wife Parisa Eghbalian and his 9-year-old daughter Reera in this tragedy, posted a message on his Twitter account addressed to Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister, writing: “Javad Zarif! I heard you are busy negotiating and selling blood. I wanted to see how much you valued the children. How much is my Reera worth? How much are her eyes? How much are her laughs? Javad Zarif! What do you really think of us? What can we do with you so we don’t become small, so we don’t become like you?”

Mr. Esmaeilion had previously announced the formation of the “PS752 Flight Victims’ Families Association” by posting a video on social media, and in that video, speaking as a spokesperson for the association, declared: “We hope that with a clear strategy and an organized plan, we will obtain justice from the perpetrators, commanders, concealers, and those responsible for this crime, and one day see them before the law.”

Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne also issued a joint statement on Thursday, April 18, on the 100th day of the Ukrainian plane’s downing by the IRGC, reaffirming condolences to the victims’ families and reminding that the Canadian government is pursuing transparency, justice, accountability, and compensation for the families of the victims of this crime on his Twitter page.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department’s Farsi Twitter account, on the occasion of the 100th day of the deaths of 176 passengers on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, stated: “The regime has refused to hand over the black box and has issued no reports accepting responsibility for its actions or preventing a recurrence of this incident.”

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which departed from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport on January 8, 2020, with 176 passengers bound for Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, crashed shortly after takeoff due to a missile attack by the IRGC near the city of Parand in Tehran Province, killing all passengers, most of whom were Iranian.

Source: Voice of America