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DEIran’s Civil Aviation Organisation released the final report on the circumstances of crash of Ukraine International Airlines passenger plane (Flight PS752) in January 2020.
As Reuters reports, the document states that the plane was shot down due to a mistake by the air defence operator, which identified the plane as a “hostile target.”
“The plane was identified as a hostile target due to a mistake by the air defence operator … near Tehran and two missiles were fired at it,” the report says.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau criticised the report, saying that the document does not answer critical questions and appears incomplete.
The ministers promised that Canada would soon disclose the results of its own investigations. According to him, there are still no answers “as to why Iran did not put in place the necessary measures, such as a full closure of their airspace, to prevent such a tragedy.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba also expressed dissatisfaction with Iran’s report. The minister regards the report as “a cynical attempt to hide true causes of the downing of our aircraft.”
“We are forced to conclude that the investigation has been biased, presented proves are selective and conclusions are deceptive. The document does not cover all the circumstances. It does not reveal either the causes of the tragedy nor the chain of events which led to it. This is not a report but a collection of manipulations aimed not at establishing the truth but acquitting the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Kuleba said.
At the same time, the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 underscored in a joint statement that it would continue to seek accountability and transparency from Iran for this tragedy and justice for the victims.
“We, Ministers representing Afghanistan, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, have taken note of the release of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s final safety investigation report into the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 (PS752),” reads the statement.
As noted, the Coordination Group countries will now carefully review this report and its findings.
As a reminder, Ukraine International Airlines plane (Flight PS752) crashed in the sky near Tehran on 8 January 2020. All 176 people on board – nine crew members and 167 passengers – died.
Bohdan Marusyak
