Jan 4, 2022: A Canadian court has awarded $84 million to the families of six victims who were killed aboard a Ukrainian Internationals Airlines flight that was shot down by Iranian forces near Tehran in early 2020.

Announcing the verdict on Monday, the victim’s lawyer, Mark Arnold, vowed to go after Iranian assets in Canada and abroad to get a verdict. The ruling was handed down by Ontario Supreme Court Justice Edward Bellobaba on December 31.

Iranian forces shot down Flight PS752 after it took off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents. The Iranian government blamed the incident on a “human error” and said the plane had mistakenly been taken for an “enemy target” in a “catastrophic mistake.”

Hours before the flight was shot down, the Iranian military fired missiles at US forces in Iraq in retaliation for the death of senior Iranian general Qasim Soleimani in a US strike ordered by then-President Donald Trump.

Following the accident, the countries of the victims – Canada, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Afghanistan – came together under the banner of the International Liaison and Response Group to call for responses and accountability. But last month, the group expressed frustration with Iran, accusing Tehran of “not being interested in fulfilling its international legal obligations.

The group has set a January 5 deadline for Iranians to “confirm whether they are ready to engage in talks with the Coordination Group, after which we will have to consider future efforts to negotiate with Iran are futile”

In May, a Canadian court entered a preliminary ruling accusing Iran of deliberately shooting down the plane, calling it an “act of terrorism,” which angered Tehran. There was a backlash, which called the court’s decision “shameful.”

Meanwhile the Iranian Foreign Ministry said at the time that “everyone knows that a Canadian court is not primarily qualified to rule on a possible negligence in an aviation accident or an incident outside of Canada’s jurisdiction and jurisdiction.”

At the end of 2020, the Iranian government announced that it would allocate $ 150,000 for each affected family. Governments are generally protected from civil lawsuits abroad, but Canada’s 2012 law limited the legal immunity of countries, including Iran, to “foreign sponsors of terrorism.”

Last week’s ruling is likely to deepen tensions between Canada and Iran. Canada closed its embassy in Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats from Ottawa in 2012, calling Iran “the greatest threat to world peace and security.”

Iran responded by calling the government of then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper “extremist.” Iran has accused Canada of politicizing its response to the downing of Flight PS752.

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in December 2020 that “Canadian authorities have been intervening unnecessarily since day one and trying to prevent the natural course of the issue from becoming clear.”

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