Canada's foreign minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, during a phone conversation with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, on Thursday asked Italy to act as a diplomatic proxy in dealing with the tragic fallout of Wednesday's crash of a Ukrainian Boeing in Iran, the Italian foreign ministry said
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2020) Canada's foreign minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne, during a phone conversation with his Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, on Thursday asked Italy to act as a diplomatic proxy in dealing with the tragic fallout of Wednesday's crash of a Ukrainian Boeing in Iran, the Italian foreign ministry said.
"Following the Flight PS752 crash, where 63 Canadian citizens died, and since Canada has no Diplomatic Mission in Teheran, Minister Champagne sought Italy's assistance in order to protect Canadian interests and encourage its consular assistance in Iran," the ministry said in a statement.
Di Maio, in turn, ensured Italy's support to Canada and expressed his deepest condolences to Champagne and the families of the victims.
On Wednesday morning, a Ukrainian International Airlines aircraft crashed outside Tehran shortly after takeoff, killing all 176 people on board. Sixty-three of them were Canadian nationals, though the Canadian authorities have said another 75 called Canada home.
