Ukraine Rejects Iran’s ‘Cynical’ Report on Downed Commercial Flight

In a video address, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned Iran’s final report on the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 as “just a cynical attempt to hide the true causes for the downing of our aircraft,” according to Ukrainian state media outlet Ukrinform.

In January 2020, the Ukrainian aircraft, bound for Kyiv, exploded shortly after departing the Iranian capital of Tehran. The blast killed all 176 aboard, the majority of whom were non-Ukrainian, including 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians. Eleven Ukrainians, counting the crew, died in the crash. Tehran later claimed 147 of the victims as its own citizens, likely meaning many passengers held dual citizenship.

The Iranian Civil Aviation Organization released its final report on the crash in January 2020, just weeks after the event, blaming an unidentified air defense operator for shooting down the civilian flight to Kyiv. The government’s final report came nearly a year later, with virtually no additional information. Iranian officials vehemently denied the possibility of Iranian operators shooting the plane down in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

Kuleba, as Ukrinform translated him, derided Iran for using its report to absolve itself of any responsibility for the disaster:

The document does not cover all the circumstances; it reveals neither the causes of the tragedy nor the chain of events that led to it. This is not a report, but a collection of manipulations aimed not at establishing the truth, but acquitting the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is a great despair for Ukraine and the rest of the civilized world. Iran could not find strength to take responsibility for ensuring that such tragedies do not repeat in the future.

Within hours of the crash, Tehran set to work destroying potential evidence of wrongdoing on its part. Within two days of the aerial catastrophe, reports emerged that Iran had already “scrubbed” the crash site and had gone so far as to bulldoze away virtually all of the lingering debris. Simultaneously, Tehran got into a diplomatic row with Kyiv over the former’s refusal to release the content’s of the plane’s black boxes, critical equipment for determining the cause of a flight’s failure.

Despite continuous denials from the government and its significant efforts to obstruct an investigation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG), a branch of the Iranian military and U.S.-designated terrorist organization, admitted days later that unidentified soldiers within it ranks had shot down the airliner with a Russian Tor missile while targeting Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops.

Iranian lawmakers applauded the IRCG for its admission of responsibility, after insisting for days before that it was “obvious” Iran had not shot down the plane. In an official statement, parliamentarians described the downing of the plane as a “mistake by a member of the family.” They further heaped praise on the military saying, “the IRGC’s admission was deeply heartwarming.”

Closing his video address, Kuleba vowed the end of Iran’s “investigation” would not mark the end of Kyiv’s efforts to uncover the truth and to hold Iran accountable for its actions: “We will not let Iran hide the truth or avoid responsibility for this crime. Justice will prevail, no matter how much effort and time it takes.”