Ukraine refuses Iran’s compensation for downed plane victims

Rescue teams gather at the scene after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers crashed near Imam Khomeini airport in the Iranian capital Tehran early in the morning on Jan. 8, 2020. (File/AFP)

• Ukrainian official said the circumstances which led to the accident must be fully clarified first
• He also said the compensation should be agreed upon by states whose citizens died in the accident

DUBAI: Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said they refused Iran’s proposal to pay $150,000 as compensation for each victim of the PS752 plane victims, local media reported.
Oleg Nikolenko said compensation to families is an important step to justice, but first the full truth behind the circumstances of the plane crash are needed.
“Only then can we talk about the compensation. The specific amount should be set with the agreement of all the governments of the states whose citizens died in the plane crash, and [should] not [be] a unilateral decision,” one of the country’s biggest TV news channels TSN quoted him.
On Friday, Iran’s Ambassador to Ukraine Manouchehr Moradi tweeted statements after the third round of talks between Tehran and Kiev.
“The Iranian delegation is ready to pay compensation to the Ukrainian families of the victims of this accident in the amount of $150,000 per person - according to the decision of the government - and asked the Ukrainian delegation to inform the survivors of the deceased Ukrainians,” he said in a tweet.
A day earlier, the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752, made of ministers which represent Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s actions and omissions amount to breaches of international law. Our claim states that our respective countries, nationals and residents on board flight PS752 were seriously and irreversibly harmed by the tragedy and Iran must fulfill its legal responsibility to make full reparations to the group of states,” the statement read.
The officials also stated their demands in the statement.
“We have made a series of demands that include, but are not limited to, an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and a full accounting of the events that led to the downing, a public apology”
“And equitable compensation for material and moral damages suffered by the victims and their families regardless of nationality and in an amount consistent with its obligations under international law,” the statement read.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight with ground-to-air missiles on Jan. 8, 2020 shortly after it took off from Tehran. The passenger plane had 176 people on board, all of whom died.
The Iranian government later declared that the shooting down was a “disastrous mistake” by forces who were on high alert during a regional confrontation with the United States.
Iran was on edge about possible attacks after it fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing US forces in retaliation for the killing days before of its most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a US missile strike at Baghdad airport.