Iran’s recklessness, incompetence caused downing of Ukrainian passenger jet: Canada

The Justin Trudeau government in Canada on Thursday held Iranian civilian and military authorities as being "fully responsible" for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet over Tehran in January last year.

The Trudeau government's response came after the release of a Canadian government report on the incident titled The Downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752: Factual Analysis. Of the 176 people who died in the incident, 55 were Canadian citizens and 30 held permanent residence in the country. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was travelling from Tehran to Kiev.

Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau and the Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra issued a statement saying, "Today, the Government of Canada released a report that confirms that Iranian civilian and military authorities, through their decisions, actions, and omissions, are fully responsible for the downing of Flight PS752...The report highlights the Iranian authorities’ recklessness, incompetence, and wanton disregard for human life. It also concludes that Iran’s official account of events is disingenuous, misleading, and superficial, and deliberately ignores key factors. This confirms Canada’s view that Iran’s actions and omissions in relation to Flight PS752 amount to violations of its obligations under international law."

However, the report accepts Iran's official stance that the aircraft was shot down as a result of human error by a surface-to-air missile operator.

The report noted "Iranian authorities positioned anti-aircraft systems on high alert near a civilian airport, without implementing basic protections like closing the airspace over Tehran or notifying airlines. All planes flying into or out of Tehran’s airport that night were at risk, including four civilian flights that took off immediately before Flight PS752 with hundreds of passengers on board going to major international hubs. In fact, the totality of available information leads the Forensic Team to conclude that Iran tracked multiple targets, but could not differentiate between passenger aircraft and legitimate threats."

The Canadian report accused Iran of orchestrating a cover-up over the incident, including by "bulldozing the crash site before investigators arrived".

"Canada will vigorously pursue full reparations for the downing and the harm that Iran has caused to the victims and their families. This includes, but is not limited to, seeking a full accounting of the events that took place, complete transparency regarding the ongoing criminal prosecutions, and concrete guarantees by Iran that measures have been taken to ensure such a tragedy never happens again," the statement by Trudeau and his ministers noted.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed Trudeau over the report. In a tweet early on Friday, Johnson stated, "The downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 was a tragedy that could have been avoided and for which Iran must accept responsibility. I remain committed to working with @JustinTrudeau and others to secure justice for all those killed."

The shooting down of the aircraft on January 8, 2020, happened shortly after Iran went on military alert following its attacks on US bases in Iraq. The Iranian attacks on the US bases was in response for the US assassination of general Qassem Soleimani.