Punishment, compensation demanded for plane downed by Iran

Published January 11, 2020
Rescue workers carry the body of a victim of an Ukrainian plane crash among debris of the plane in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. — AP/File
Rescue workers carry the body of a victim of an Ukrainian plane crash among debris of the plane in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. — AP/File

Hours after Tehran admitted on Saturday that she had unintentionally downed a Ukrainian commercial plane, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that Iran punish those responsible for the downing and pay compensation.

“We expect Iran [...] to bring the guilty to the courts,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on Facebook, calling also for the “payment of compensation” after Tehran admitted accidentally downing the plane which resulted in the killing of 176 people who were on board.

Similarly, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said closure and accountability were needed. He also demanded “transparency, and justice for the families and loved ones of the victims,” of whom many were Canadian dual nationals.

“This is a national tragedy, and all Canadians are mourning together,” Trudeau's office said in a statement.

Russia also reacted to the admission as the chairman of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee said that Iran must “learn lessons” from the disaster.

“If decryption of the black boxes and the work of the investigation do not prove that the Iranian army did this intentionally, and there are no logical reasons for this, the incident must be closed.

“Hoping that lessons will be learned and action taken by all parties,” said Konstantin Kosachev, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

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