Ukraine, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden have set deadlines for a settlement with Iran on the downing of aircraft
Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom have told Iran that it has three weeks to repent of its refusal to seek compensation after the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane last year.
“The coordination group’s patience is running out,” the four countries said in a statement on December 16, adding that they told Tehran that they had until January 5, 2022 to respond, otherwise the countries “would have to seriously consider other measures to resolve this question “within the framework of international law” but gave no details.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 crashed on January 8, 2020 on its way to Kiev, killing all 176 people on board. More than 130 of the passengers were connected to Canada. Citizens of Afghanistan, Britain, Iran, Ukraine and Sweden were also killed.
Days after official denials, Iran acknowledged that a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had inadvertently shot down the plane when it fired two missiles in the middle of increased tensions with the United States.
The group said on December 16 that Iran had shown reluctance to open talks on damages and to deliver justice on time.
Families of victims said in a report last month that senior Iranian officials were responsible.
In June, Canada said it had found no evidence that the plane had been shot down.
In May, Human Rights Watch accused Iranian security agencies of harassing and abusing families of the victims of the Ukrainian passenger jet to “crush hope for justice”.