Iran accuses Canada of 'unnecessary interference' over Ukrainian plane

Iran has accused Canada of having “the most undue interference” in the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, after Canada’s foreign minister cast doubt on Iran’s account of how the plane was shot down.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman responded to recent statements by Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne about the implausibility of "human error" in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in early January this year.

According to ISNA, Saeed Khatibzadeh called Philippe Champagne's statements "unacceptable" and said: "The Canadian authorities have made the most unnecessary interventions in this matter from day one, and they have tried to prevent the natural path of clarification from happening. Their behavior is completely political and illegal, and they are trying to create an atmosphere with these statements."

He accused Canadian officials of trying to “make a fortune for themselves from the great grief of these families and make a business out of it.” Khatibzadeh warned the foreign minister and the Canadian government to “be held accountable for their own actions.”

He added: "A government that has done everything it can to create obstacles by blocking the financial path to the transfer of medicine to Iran has no place to talk about human rights. Iran is responsibly pursuing its duties, and I invite the Canadian government to intervene in this matter in accordance with its position and dignity."

"A questionable narrative"

On Wednesday, December 16, in an interview with Canada's CBC, the Canadian Foreign Minister emphasized that the missile attack on the passenger plane raised many questions and that the investigation should be allowed to continue.

Francois-Philippe Champagne also called Iran's narrative about why the Ukrainian passenger plane was targeted by the Revolutionary Guards "doubtful."

In response to these statements, Khatibzadeh said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sought to clarify the dimensions of the incident at the highest level, and of course the Armed Forces and the Civil Aviation Organization must explain this, and a technical report has been prepared."

According to his claim, no date has been set for reviewing this case and Iran is doing its best to fulfill its obligations based on international treaties.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "The technical report on this issue will be published today and tomorrow and sent to the Ukrainian and other parties involved."

On January 8 of last year, a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down by two missiles from the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force's defense system shortly after taking off from Tehran Airport.

Iran, which denied shooting down the plane for the first three days after the accident, finally said after releasing evidence and reports that it had been hit by a missile that the IRGC had mistaken the plane for a cruise missile and shot it down.

Ukraine International Flight 752 was carrying 176 people, all of whom died. The plane was shot down shortly after Iran launched a missile attack on the US airbase at Ain al-Assad in Iraq.

Iran did not cancel passenger flights, despite placing the Revolutionary Guard Corps on full alert at the time, a move some have described as providing a “human shield” to prevent a possible US retaliatory attack.

Source: DW