G7 leaders demand justice for victims of UIA plane crash in Iran — UNIAN

Reuters

Leaders of the Group of Seven (UK, US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and Japan) expressed support for efforts to bring justice to the victims of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752, which crashed in Iran.

This was announced at the G7 summit in Carbis Bay Communiqué Following the meeting in Cornwall on 11-13 June 2021.

“We support efforts to pursue transparency, accountability, and justice for the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was shot down by Iran in January 2020,” the communique said.

The G7 leaders said: “We call on Iran to cease all ballistic missile activities and proliferation that violate UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and other relevant resolutions, refrain from destabilizing actions, and play a constructive role in promoting regional stability and peace.”

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They also reiterated their deep concern about Iran’s ongoing human rights violations and abuses.

PS752 Crash: Background

• On January 8, 2020, Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737 flight PS752, bound for Kiev, was shot down in Iran shortly after taking off from Tehran Airport. All 176 people on board were killed, including 11 Ukrainian nationals (9 crew members and 2 passengers). Also among the victims were citizens of Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
• Three days later, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted that the downing of the Ukrainian airliner was caused by “human error” and promised to bring those responsible to justice.
• On October 19, 2020, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yenin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran. After the meeting, Yenin stated that Iran was willing to provide equal compensation to the families of all victims of the Ukraine International Airlines plane crash, regardless of their nationality. However, on December 9, 2020, Yenin stated that Iran had withdrawn its offer to process compensation.
• On December 31, 2020, Iran submitted a draft technical report on the plane shooting down incident to Ukraine for the fifth time. Ukraine has two months to provide comments and suggestions on the report.
• Later, secret recordings emerged showing that Iranian authorities would never reveal the truth about the downing of the Ukrainian airliner.
• According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian government and security agencies are investigating an audio recording in which a man, identified by sources as Iran’s foreign minister, discusses the possibility that the downing of Flight PS752 may have been an intentional act.
• At the end of February 2021, Ukraine submitted more than 90 pages of comments on the draft technical report to Iran and insisted that Iran include them in the final document.
• On March 17, 2021, Iran released its final report stating that the accidental downing of UIA Flight PS752 was a mistake by air defense operators. The aircraft was identified as a hostile target.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Iran’s final report on PS752 did not take into account Ukraine’s statements and contained manipulative conclusions.
• In April 2021, it was announced that 10 Iranian officials had been indicted for the downing of Flight PS752.
• On June 3, 2021, it was reported that Afghanistan would no longer participate as part of the International Coordination and Response Team in negotiations with Iran for the victims of Flight PS752.