Switzerland has notified Tehran of a lawsuit filed in the United States against the Islamic Republic and the Iranian IRGC by the relatives of the victims of the Ukrainian plane shot down by Iran in 2020.
The Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests, has officially informed the Iranian government of the case, according to a document acquired by Iran International.
In June, Canada also stated that it had notified Iran of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario’s finding that the Iranian IRGC intentionally downed Ukraine Airlines Flight PS752.
Some family members launched a legal case against Iran and high authorities they think were responsible for the tragedy in May 2021. The Ontario Court of Appeal found that the plane’s downing was a purposeful act of terrorism and granted compensation to the six victims’ estates on December 31, 2021.
In a House of Commons subcommittee meeting attended by several political and human rights activists, including the spokesman of the Association of Victims’ Families, Hamed Esmaeilion, Canada’s international human rights parliamentary subcommittee criticized the government’s “passive” approach toward Iran’s widespread human rights violations.
On January 8, 2020, the airplane was shot down by two IRGC air-defense missiles as it took flight from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport. The plane’s 176 passengers and crew, including 63 Canadians and 10 Swedes, as well as 82 Iranian citizens, were all killed.