Canada wants to ‘hold Iran responsible’ for Ukrainian Boeing crash

Canada and three other countries issued an ultimatum to Iran on Wednesday: the country has six months to submit to binding arbitration aimed at finding responsibility for the crash of a Ukrainian Boeing nearly three years ago. year. Otherwise, these four countries will resort to the courts. A “significant step” for the relatives of the victims, which is however greeted with caution by an expert.

“It’s a significant step forward in my opinion. We have been waiting for this for a very long time, ”said the Homework spokesman for the Association of Families of Victims of Flight PS752, Hamed Esmaeilion, on Wednesday.

In a joint statement, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden and the United Kingdom announced on Wednesday that they had taken “concrete action” to “hold Iran accountable” for the crash of a flight from Ukraine. International Airlines on January 8, 2020 after it was hit by two surface-to-air missiles. The tragedy caused the death of 176 people. Of these, 85 resided in Canada.

The four countries are thus relying on the Montreal Convention of 1971, which regulates offenses against civil aviation, to request arbitration aimed at “settling the dispute” concerning the destruction of this plane shortly after its takeoff from Tehran. by missiles launched “illegally and intentionally by members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air Defense Unit”, the statement added.

The agreement provides that if the parties do not agree on the organization of the arbitration within the next six months, the dispute could be submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN. which sits in The Hague. Iran must be “held accountable for its numerous violations of its international legal obligations under several treaties”, adds the coordination group.
“The relatives of the victims of flight PS752 shot down by Iran deserve justice,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said on Twitter. “This week, we took an important step towards that goal and we will continue to work together to hold Iran accountable for this tragedy,” she continued.

Bend Iran

Concretely, recourse to arbitration would make it possible to arrive at a decision to which Iran would normally be forced to submit, explains to the Homework University of Toronto professor of international relations Aurel Braun. “For the victims, if it worked, it would be a good thing”, since they could eventually hope to obtain greater financial compensation from Iran and recognition of the country as to its criminal responsibility in this crash, adds the ‘expert.

“On the other hand, even if I believe that this is a highly desirable result, I wonder if the four countries will be able to accomplish this task”, notes nevertheless Arel Braun, who doubts that Iran is interested in complying to such an arbitration process. And if the country accepts, “what will we do with Iran if it refuses to comply with the result of the arbitration? asks the expert.

Hamed Esmaeilion also doubts that Iran agrees to submit to arbitration. It is rather in a possible appeal to the ICJ that he places his expectations. “Our hope is that the truth will come out of this court and that Iran will recognize its responsibility, its criminal intent to carry out the attack […] Iran must participate and answer questions. That’s our hope,” he said in an interview.

However, even if the four member countries of this coordination group decide to prosecute Iran before the ICJ, the challenge of “executing” the decision that will be rendered there remains, notes Professor Arel Braun. If Iran refuses to cooperate, the expert says he hopes that tougher economic and diplomatic sanctions will then be imposed on this country and its companies, in order to make the Middle Eastern country bend.

“If we imposed an ultimatum, this ultimatum must have teeth”, illustrates the expert. Otherwise, they will only be “empty threats”, he adds.

With Agence France-Presse

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