Ukraine takes Iran to UN court over downing of passenger airliner

Ukraine and other states members of an international coordination group will turn to the UN court to seek justice in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger airliner in Iran more than three years ago.

In a brief statement, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said negotiations between Iran and the coordination group, which also includes Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, on an arbitration had failed.

"In this regard, the Coordination Group is referring the dispute to the International Court of Justice to ensure that Iran is held accountable for the illegal downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752", the ministry added.

The Boeing 737-800 NG flight PS752 was downed near Tehran in January 2020, with all 176 people on board killed, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 Canadian residents.

At first, Iran had denied any involvement, only to admit later it had "unintentionally" shot down the plane and to offer to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

It, however, refused to cooperate with other countries in investigating the plane crash, instead carrying out its own proceedings, which were not made public or shared with the international coordination group.