Tehran, Jan 7 (AFP\/APP):Iran has begun paying compensation to families of those killed when it shot down a Ukrainian airliner two years ago, authorities said on Friday.<\/p>\n
“The transport ministry has made transfers to a certain number of (victims’) families,” the foreign ministry said in a statement marking the anniversary of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people aboard, most of them Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.<\/p>\n
Three days later, the Iranian armed forces admitted to downing the Kyiv-bound plane “by mistake.”<\/p>\n
Arash Khodaei, a vice president of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said that “the sum of $150,000 has been transferred” to some families, while “the process has begun” for others.<\/p>\n
The payment “does not infringe upon (their) right to take legal action,” state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
\nIn 2020, Iran offered to pay “$150,000 or the equivalent in euros” to each of the victims’ families.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticised the announcement, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.<\/p>\n
A Canadian court awarded more than $80 million in compensation to the families of six of the victims in a decision made public Monday.<\/p>\n
It was unclear how the money would be collected but Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba said “some level” of enforcement may be possible.<\/p>\n
Iran’s judiciary said in November that a trial had opened in Tehran for 10 military members in connection with the jet’s downing.<\/p>\n
Tensions between Iran and the United States were soaring at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n
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 US forces.<\/p>\n
Those missiles came in response to the killing of General Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad’s international airport. Soleimani headed the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n
Over the past week Tehran and its Middle East allies have held commemorations marking the second anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tehran, Jan 7 (AFP\/APP):Iran has begun paying compensation to families of those killed when it shot down a Ukrainian airliner two years ago, authorities said on Friday. “The transport ministry has made transfers to a certain number of (victims’) families,” the foreign ministry said in […]<\/p>\n
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