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Ukraine plane: Iran facing legal action over downing of Flight PS752

Reuters Candles are lit in front of the photos of the victims of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, in Toronto, Canada (8 January 2023)Reuters
A vigil was held in Toronto, Canada, on the third anniversary of the tragedy this January

Iran is facing legal action at the International Court of Justice over the shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 in January 2020.

Four nations - Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK - are seeking damages for the families of the 176 people on board who were killed.

The plane was hit by two missiles fired by a Revolutionary Guards air defence unit after it took off from Tehran.

Three days later, Iran admitted mistakenly shooting down the plane.

The Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force said an air defence unit had mistaken the Boeing 737-800 for a US missile.

In April a court in Iran sentenced 10 armed forces personnel to prison but victims' families rejected the verdicts as "meaningless and unacceptable".

The four nations - whose citizens or residents were killed in the incident - say in the application to the International Court of Justice that Iran "violated a series of obligations" under a convention on civil aviation by shooting down the jet.

They accuse Iran of failing to take all practicable measures to prevent the downing of the plane, which happened during a time of high tension between Iran and the US.

Iran then failed to conduct an impartial, transparent and fair criminal investigation and prosecution, the group says.

The countries want the court to order that Iran publicly acknowledges its "internationally wrongful acts", apologise to the families and provide assurances that it will not happen again.

The application also asks the court to "order full reparation for all injury caused", calling on Iran to return the missing belongings of the victims and to provide "full compensation" to the families.

Lord Ahmad, the UK's Middle East minister, said they were "committed to pursuing justice for the victims and their families".

In December 2022, the group jointly requested that Iran submit to binding arbitration, arguing the missiles that hit the flight were launched "unlawfully and intentionally".

At the time a spokesperson for Canada's foreign affairs ministry told the BBC the Iranian government had six months to respond. This deadline has now passed, prompting the countries to move towards legal action.