Western allies drag Iran to UN court over downed jet

THE HAGUE — Canada, Britain, Sweden and Ukraine have taken Iran to the UN’s top court to seek damages for families of passengers on a jetliner downed by Tehran in 2020, they said on Wednesday.

The case lodged by the four countries, which had a number of citizens on board, asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order Iran to apologise for shooting down Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 after take-off from Tehran.

All 176 people on the plane were killed. Three days after the January 8, 2020 crash, Iran admitted that its military had targeted the Kyiv-bound Boeing 737-800 plane by mistake.

The Hague-based ICJ said in a statement that the four countries “claim that Iran has violated a series of obligations” under a convention on civil aviation by shooting down the plane.

Their joint filing to the court alleges that Iran breached a 1971 multilateral treaty on threats to civil aviation, and that attempts to seek binding arbitration with Iran had failed.

They asked the court to “order full reparation for all injury caused” and to make Iran pay “full compensation to the applicants for the material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families”.

Iran should also return the belongings of the victims, “publicly apologise” and acknowledge its “internationally wrongful acts”.

Ottawa, London, Stockholm and Kyiv vowed last month they would take the case to the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between UN member states.

Ministers from the four countries said in a joint statement on Wednesday that they had “taken an important step in our collective effort to ensure Iran is held accountable” for downing flight PS752.

“Today’s legal action reflects our unwavering commitment to achieving transparency, justice and accountability for the families of the victims,” said the statement on the Canadian foreign ministry website.

In June, Iran took Canada to the ICJ accusing Ottawa of allowing victims of alleged terror attacks to claim damages from Tehran.

Tehran’s case claims that Ottawa, which listed the Islamic Republic as a sponsor of terrorism in 2012, had violated Iran’s state immunity.

Iran’s application cited a 2022 Canadian court judgment that awarded more than $80 million in compensation to the families of six people who died when the Ukrainian airliner was shot down.

Eighty-five Canadian citizens and permanent residents were among the victims. Ukraine lost 11 citizens in the disaster.

Iran jailed 10 members of the armed forces in April after finding them guilty of involvement in the downing of the Boeing, the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported on Sunday.

In 2020, Iran offered to pay “$150,000 or the equivalent in euros” to each of the victims’ families.

But Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticised the announcement, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.

Tensions between Iran and the United States had been soaring at the time the airliner was shot down.

Iranian air defences were on high alert for a US counterattack after Tehran fired missiles at a military base in Iraq that was used by American forces.