Canada, along with Britain, Sweden and Ukraine, called on Iran six months ago to agree to binding arbitration through a United Nations agreement aimed at protecting aircraft from attack.
The International Victims Coordination and Response Group of Flight PS752 said in a joint statement Thursday that since Iran has not accepted this request, the dispute will be submitted to the International Court of Justice “as soon as possible.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane just minutes after takeoff on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board.
Among the passengers were 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, as well as others with ties to Canada. Other victims were linked to Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
The call for binding arbitration comes after years of failed negotiations with Tehran to demand compensation and ensure accountability for those responsible.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Jolly, planned to meet with the families of the Flight PS752 victims on Thursday to assess the next steps in this dossier.
“Time is up. We are taking Iran to the International Court of Justice for shooting down Flight PS752, as promised to the families of the victims. We will get the transparency, accountability and justice the families deserve. Impunity is not an option,” she wrote on Twitter.
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