Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Yenin says Iran is ready to provide equal compensation to the relatives of all victims of a Ukrainian passenger plane that was shot down by Iranian forces outside Tehran in January, regardless of their citizenship.
The Ukrainian diplomat held a meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Tehran on 19 October 2020, the Ukrainian ministry's press service said on its website on Monday.
In particular, the parties discussed the negotiation process regarding the downing of flight PS752 in Iran in January 2020.
"We welcome Iran's decision to assume full responsibility for the downing of the Ukrainian aircraft, as well as its readiness to ensure that equal compensation is paid to the relatives of all victims, regardless of their citizenship," the Ukrainian official said.
Yenin emphasized the necessity for an impartial and objective investigation into the circumstances of the plane crash and called upon the Iranian side to provide access to all relevant materials.
Read alsoSeveral relatives of PS752 victims file lawsuit against Iran in U.S."Making progress in negotiations over the downed Ukrainian airliner will facilitate the normalization of cooperation with Iran," he said.
The Ukrainian diplomat informed Mohammad Zarif in detail of the consequences of Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, including the militarization of the Azov-Black Sea region and the repressions by the Russian occupation administration against the residents in temporarily occupied Crimea.
The Iranian Foreign Minister reaffirmed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and the inviolability of its borders. The Iranian official also gave assurances that no third party countries would influence Iran's policy towards Ukraine.
PS752 downing in Iran: Background
- On January 8, 2020, Kyiv-bound Boeing 737 passenger jet flight PS752, operated by Ukraine International Airlines, crashed in Iran shortly after takeoff from Tehran Airport.
- All 176 people on board, including 11 Ukrainian nationals – nine crew and two passengers – were killed. Among victims are also citizens of Iran, Canada, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the UK.
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani admitted that the Ukrainian liner had been shot down as a result of an unintentional "human error," and promised to bring those responsible to justice.
- On June 9, media reports said Iran had accused six persons in the PS752 downing case.
- On July 20, flight recorders were delivered to Paris and decrypted on July 21.
- On July 24, it was reported that data from the black boxes had confirmed external interference with the aircraft's operation.
- On July 29-30, Kyiv hosted the first round of negotiations with Iran regarding compensation to relatives of the PS752 victims.
- On July 31, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba briefed on three major achievements of the negotiations with the Iranian delegation on compensations. In particular, Iran joined in the negotiation process to establish all the circumstances of the disaster, to bring all those responsible to justice and handle all necessary payments. Iran also agreed to fulfill all its obligations under international conventions in the field of aviation. At the same time, there is no answer yet to the question of the size of the compensation.
- At the talks on October 19-20, the Ukrainian delegation plans to hear a detailed explanation by the Iranian side as to what were the causes behind the downing of the plane and who would be held accountable for the incident.