On this day, 5 years ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran killed 176 people on board Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in the Iranian airspace. There were 11 citizens of Ukraine, as well as citizens of Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, and Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched two surface-to-air missiles against the civil aircraft in flight.

Iran brutally violated a number of rules of international law: it used weapons against a civil aircraft in flight, failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the downing, and failed to ensure either a transparent and objective investigation into the circumstances of the crash or proper prosecution of the accused persons.

On this mournful day, we express our condolences to all the families and friends of those who died on board Flight PS752. We will spare no effort to restore justice and bring those responsible to justice.

A year ago, the International Coordination and Response Group for the Victims of Flight PS752, consisting of Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom, initiated the proceedings before the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) against Iran for its breach of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation (the Chicago Convention).

These proceedings continue to progress, and the next steps of the Coordination Group to hold Iran accountable within the ICAO Council will be taken in the coming months.

In October 2024, the Coordination Group also submitted a Memorial within the case related to the downing of PS752 before the International Court of Justice. Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom supported this key document in the case with irrefutable evidence of Iran’s breaches of the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation (the Montreal Convention).

Today, Iran continues to assert its status as a murderer by providing military and political support to the Russian Federation in its armed aggression against Ukraine, while the deepening cooperation between the regimes in Moscow and Tehran poses an immediate threat to Europe and the Middle East. Impunity for past crimes encourages Iran and Russia to commit new and new violations of international law. That is why achieving justice is out of extreme importance.

We call on the international community to unite efforts for the sake of international peace and security, including the safety of international civil aviation, and to ensure such disasters never happen in the future.