A Canadian court has awarded more than $80 million in compensation to the families of six people who died when Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner almost two years ago, according to a decision made public Monday.
Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was shot down shortly after take-off from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people aboard — including 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Three days later, the Iranian armed forces admitted to downing the Kyiv-bound plane “by mistake.”
Ontario Superior Court Judge Edward Belobaba had previously ruled that the strike on the civilian aircraft “constituted terrorist activity”, paving the way for bereaved families to seek compensation.
In the decision publicly shared Monday, he awarded the plaintiffs $107 million Canadian dollars ($83 million), plus interest.
It was unclear how the money would be collected from Iran, but Belobaba said he was “satisfied that some level of enforcement may well be possible and some level of deterrence may well be achieved.”
“(The plaintiffs’ counsel said) viable Iranian-owned assets and investments remain accessible not only in Canada but worldwide,” the judge wrote in his decision.
– ‘We’re coming after your assets’
Mark Arnold, a lawyer for victims’ families, acknowledged that collecting money from Teheran “undoubtedly poses challenges,” but expressed hope that it will be done.
“We know where the Iranian assets are, we know where they are in Canada and we know where they are internationally,” Arnold said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
He added: “If anybody from the Islamic Republic of Iran is on this call, if the Supreme Leader is on this call, we’re coming after your assets, gentlemen in Iran.”
Shahin Moghaddam, one of the five plaintiffs who lost his wife Shakiba and son Rosstin in the tragedy, called the court’s decision a “kind of victory for me.”
“The money is not going to bring them back to us,” Shahin said. “The purpose of this fight was to reach to the justice as much as we can.”
In May, the same judge concluded that Iran had committed a “terrorist” act by shooting down the Ukrainian aircraft.
Tehran denounced that ruling, saying it had “no basis” and insisting that the Canadian court lacked the authority to render such a decision.
The plaintiffs had asked for $1.5 billion Canadian dollars in damages.
In a final report in March, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) said its air defense systems were on high alert for a US counter-attack after Tehran fired missiles at a military base in Iraq that was used by US forces.
The Islamic republic had just attacked a US base in Iraq in response to the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, and was expecting a response from Washington.
Ukraine denounced the report as a “cynical attempt to hide the real causes” of the tragedy, while Ottawa said the report was “incomplete” and lacked “hard evidence.”
A group of countries led by Canada said in June that they had filed an action against Iran to seek compensation for the families of the victims.
In December 2020, Iran offered to pay “$150,000 or the equivalent in euros” to each of the victims’ families.
That announcement was strongly criticized by Ukrainian and Canadian officials, who said that compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.
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