TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) Kiev and Ottawa are closer to a decision on taking Iran to the International Court of Justice after Tehran announced charges in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet, Ukraine's Ambassador to Canada Andrey Shevchenko told Canadian state tv.
Earlier in the day, Iran's military prosecutor's office indicted ten officials over the 2020 downing of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 that killed 176 people.
"I think this brings us even closer to [a] very important strategic decision on how we have to deal with this situation, including on a big decision whether we are going to take this case to the International Court [of Justice]," Shevchenko told the CBC on Tuesday. "I expect that all the legal actions will be coordinated, and I think Canada and Ukraine are naturally in a position to lead this process."
Shevchenko added that he would not speculate about when Ukraine would take such a step but emphasized that Kiev would coordinate with the other affected countries - Canada, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom - to seek answers about the tragedy.
Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, which oversaw the investigation, concluded last month that PS752 was brought down inadvertently by an Iranian missile after being mistaken for a hostile target amid confrontation with the United States. Ottawa and Kiev have rejected the report.
Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran after being shot down by the Iranian military. The passengers were mostly Canadian and Iranian nationals and nine Ukrainian crew members.
The Iranian military said it was on high alert at the time of the accident, which happened hours after it fired missiles at two US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
