Iran's investigation into Flight PS752's destruction expected to be completed in a month

Ukraine has wrapped up its second round of "difficult and detailed" talks with Iran over the destructionof Flight PS752 and has been told Iran's safety investigation will be completed within a month, says Ukraine's ambassador to Canada.

Ambassador Andriy Shevchenko said Ukraine expectsto receive an advancecopy of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization's report to provide remarks before it's released publicly by the one-year anniversary of the disaster, according to international conventions.

"It's a very important piece of the investigation because it should help us to understand what happened in particular, why the skies above Iran were not closed on that very tragic day,"Shevchenko told CBC News.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight shortly after takeoff in Tehran on Jan. 8, killing all 176 passengers onboard including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Iran originally denied shooting down the Ukrainian flight for three days after the crash. In response to mounting international pressure and evidence, Iran lateradmitted the IRGC "mistakenly" shot down the jetjust hours after Iran's forces fired missiles at Iraqi bases where U.S. troops were stationed.

Ukraine's delegation in Iran this week represented all five countries that lost citizens in the crash,including Canada. Unlike Canada, Ukraine still has diplomatic relations with Iran. A Ukraine International Airlines plane is at the centre of the case, giving the country more access to the investigation than other countries.

On Monday, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized Foreign Affairs Minister Franois-Philippe Champagne for saying that Canada would hold Iran to account. Shevchenkosaid Ukraine is standingwith Canada and other countries affected by the eventto "speak with one voice."

Over the three days of technical meetings, Ukraine learnedsome new details about the safety probeand the criminal investigation, Shevchenko said, adding thatthe information could notbe released publicly.

"What I heard from my capitalis, it was a very difficult, detailed conversation with a lot of the right words spoken," he said. "But...we'd like to see the actions that will follow."

Ukraine is still demanding to know more about the chain of command how decisions were made and who is responsible. Ukrainian officials asked for evidence and details about the "six servicemen" Iran said it arrested in connection to the downing of the plane,Shevchenko said.

"It will be unacceptable to see Iran punish the minor personnel without presenting a clear picture of the chain of command which led to this terrible tragedy," he said.

"We do not Iran to hide behind the truth of these state secretsor military rules and regulations."

Iran told Ukraine it was willing to compensate victims' families;Shevchenko said the issue wasn't discussed further during the talksbecause thecountries involved want the truth uncovered first.

Officials in Iran maintained that "human error" wasto blamefor the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shooting down the commercial plane with two surface-to-air missiles, the ambassador said.

Canada has rejected the Iran Civil Aviation Organization's report, released in August. The report states the missiles were not properly reorientated after being movedand that a communication breakdown caused two IRGC members guarding the missile to misidentify the commercial plane as a threat and open fire twice without getting approval from senior ranking officers.

Hamed Esmaeilion whose wife Parisa Eghbalian and her nine-year old daughter Reera Esmaeilion died on Flight PS752 is the spokesperson for an association representing victims' families in Canada. He said he hopes Ukraine shares the new details it learned about the safety and criminal investigations with Canada.

"In my opinion, any details of this case should be disclosed to everyone," said Esmaeilion. "The families are the biggest stakeholders. This is the first group that should know what happened."

He said his association has a fact-finding committee and has gathered the names of people in Iran who may have been involved in the destruction of Flight PS752. The families said they want to share those names with Ukraine and be involved in their criminal investigation.

Esmaeilion said families are not confidentthe negotiations will get themthejustice they're looking for.

The next round of talks between Ukraine and Iran issetfor the end of November andearly December.

Ukraines ambassador to Canada, Andriy Shevchenko, said his country is pushing Iran for more answers into who is responsible for the downing of Flight PS752

4 years ago

Duration 0:32

"We do not want Iran to hide behind state secrets or military rules and regulations," said Shevchenko.