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Canadian Court Finds Iran Liable For Downed Ukrainian Flight

A court in Ontario, Canada, ruled Thursday that the Iranian government was liable under a 2012 Canadian law to pay damages to families of victims of a Ukrainian commercial flight downed by two surface-to-air missiles after taking off from Tehran's International Imam Khomeini Airport on January 8, 2020. Canada had dozens of citizens and permanent residents on board.

Iran offered in December to pay $150,000 to each family who had lost a relative in the disaster – an amount dismissed by both Canada and Ukraine. Claimants want at least 1.5 billion Canadian dollars (around $1.25 billion) in compensation.

Justice Edward Belobaba found that "on a balance of probabilities" the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), who operated the missile-defense battery, “knowingly chose to target the plane” bound for Kiev and the 176 onboard. The downing of the plane, therefore, was “an act of intentional and deliberate terrorism,” he ruled.

The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the ruling was "baseless" and not based on "evidence and tangible reasons.” He insisted that the Canadian court lacked jurisdiction over the matter. "We urge the government of Canada to show the behavior of a mature government instead of pretending to be active in the case of this tragic incident and act according to recognized international laws and with respect for principles," he said.

The plane was shot down at a time of heightened tension with the United States after Iran fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq in response to a US drone strike killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and nine others in Baghdad on January 3. Iran said the two missiles were fired at the Ukrainian plane due to errors in aligning the mobile missile-battery.

The judge’s ruling is based on a 2012 Canadian law that asserts extraterritorial jurisdiction for countries Ottawa deems “foreign state supporters of terrorism,” currently Iran and Syria. Some family members of the victims of the tragedy filed a class action lawsuit in Canada on January 24, 2020, against the IRGC, as well as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as commander-in-chief of the Iranian armed forces.

Shahin Moghadam, a relative of a Canadian victim, told Iran International TV Thursday that he had found out about the ruling through the plaintiffs' lawyer, Mark Arnold. According Moghadam, the court had found Khamenei, Chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces Major-General Mohammad Bagheri, IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major-General Hossein Salami, Commander of IRGC Aerospace Force Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, and Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani all “guilty” for downing the plane.

Immediate family members of the four American victims of the crash filed a lawsuit in the United States in October 2020 for what they called the "murder" of their family members and for Iran allegedly hiding evidence.  Victims' families have repeatedly asked why Tehran did not close its airspace to civilian planes after its missile attack on US bases.

A British-Iranian journalist, political analyst and former correspondent of The National and journalist at Iran International
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