The Iranian Government are reported to be offering monetary compensation to the families of victims of the Ukrainian passenger plane they admitted to having accidentally shot down during the Diplomatic row between them the United States of America over General Qasem Soleimani’s assassination.
This latest development comes almost a day after Tehran admitted to having lied about downing the Ukranian plane that had mostly Iranian passengers and citizens of other countries. The incident has also caused violent protest across Iran, as family members condemned the government handling of the whole situation.
According to reports, Hamid Baeidinejad said Tehran had accepted responsibility for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 with two missiles, and that the “legal and financial” implications would now be considered.
As foreign ministers from nations who lost citizens gathered in London today, he added that he did not envisage “major problems” over compensation
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and representatives from Canada, Ukraine, Sweden and Afghanistan were holding talks on how to ensure there is a transparent inquiry into how the Boeing 737 was shot down shortly after taking off from Tehran’s international airport on January 8, killing all 176 onboard.
A military unit is believed to have fired two Russian-made Tor missiles at the plane, wrongly believing it was a US cruise missile fired in response to Iranian strikes on two Iraqi bases housing American troops.
Asked on Channel 4 News about compensation, Mr Baeidinejad said: “We don’t see that there would be any major disagreement because we have accepted responsibility.”
Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has accused Britain, Germany and France of giving in to “high school bully” Donald Trump by triggering a dispute resolution mechanism under its JCPOA nuclear agreement.
The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration had threatened a 25 per cent tariff on European car imports if the three nations (E3) did not formally accuse Iran of breaking the 2015 deal, which aims to limit its ambitions but which the US pulled out of in 2018.
However, the E3 is understood to have acted because of systematic breaches by Iran of the deal and the belief that it was now making irreversible progress towards a nuclear weapon by bringing on stream more sophisticated centrifuges and breaking new ground through research. The E3 is keen for a diplomatic solution to preserve the deal.