Iran says European insurers should pay compensation for downed Ukrainian plane
Iran will not compensate Ukraine International
Airlines for its plane Tehran accidentally downed in January because the
passenger jet was insured by European firms, the head of Iran’s Central
Insurance Organisation said on Monday.
“The Ukrainian plane is insured by European
companies in Ukraine and not by Iranian (insurance) companies,” said Gholamreza
Soleimani, according to the Young Journalists Club news website affiliated with
state TV. “Therefore, compensation should be paid by those European companies.”
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards shot down the
Ukraine International Airlines flight with a ground-to-air missile on Jan. 8
just after the plane took off from Tehran, in what Tehran later acknowledged as
a “disastrous mistake” by forces who were on high alert during a confrontation
with the United States.
Soleimani’s comments concerned the aircraft and did
not address potential compensation for victims’ families. There was no
immediate comment from European aviation insurers.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that
Ukraine was not satisfied with the size of compensation Iran had offered to
families of Ukrainians killed in the incident. Ukrainian officials have said
that Ukraine would make every effort to maximise the amount of restitution.
Last month, Iranian and Ukrainian officials held
talks on the compensation, with another round set for October.
In a July report, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation
blamed a chain of mistakes - such as a misalignment of a radar system and lack
of communication between the air defence operator and his commanders - for the
plane crash that killed 176 aboard, including 57 Canadians.
The downing occurred at a time of high tension
between longtime foes Iran and the United States.
Iran was on alert for attacks after it fired
missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the killing on
Jan. 3 of its most powerful military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S.
missile strike at Baghdad airport.
