The Canadian government on Thursday held Iranian authorities as being "fully responsible" for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet over Tehran in January last year.
The response came after the release of a Canadian government report on the incident titled The Downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752: Factual Analysis.
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.”
All 176 people died in the incident. The Ukraine International Airlines flight was travelling from Tehran to Kiev.
“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," the statement added.
The incident occurred in the tense hours as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were carrying out “revenge” attacks on American military bases in Iraq in response to the death of the regime’s top commander Qassem Soleimani a week earlier in US strikes in Baghdad.
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 was 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".
