Iran wants to overturn the ICAO decision on the UIA plane crash in 2020 through the court
Iran filed a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice of the United Nations with a demand to cancel the decision of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the case related to the crash of the Boeing 737-800 NG flight PS752 of the airline “Ukraine International Airlines”, which occurred in 2020. About this informs court press service.
“This application is an appeal against a decision rendered by the ICAO Council on 17 March 2025 and officially communicated to Iran on 11 April 2025 in a case jointly initiated by Canada, the Kingdom of Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 8 January 2024 under Article 84 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Chicago, December 7, 1944 (Chicago Convention).
The proceedings in the ICAO Council concern disagreements regarding the interpretation and application of the Chicago Convention regarding the mistaken downing of a civilian aircraft in flight – UIA Flight 752 by the Iranian military on January 8, 2020.” – the message says.
The ICAO decision refers to the rejection of a “preliminary objection” that Iran submitted to the Council’s authority to consider a complaint under the Chicago Convention. Iran insists that instead of a single objection, two different arguments were submitted, which were improperly combined by the Council into one vote, which, according to Iran, violates the principles of procedural fairness. Iran also reserved the right to amend or supplement the appeal filed.
We will remind that on January 8, 2020, passenger plane PS752, which was traveling from Tehran to Kyiv, was shot down immediately after takeoff near the international airport named after Imam Khomeini in Tehran. There were 167 passengers and nine crew members on board. All died. Among the victims are 11 citizens of Ukraine (including the crew), 82 citizens of Iran, 63 citizens of Canada, 10 citizens of Sweden, four citizens of Afghanistan, three each of Germany and Great Britain.
On January 11, 2020, the Iranian authorities admitted that the plane was mistakenly shot down by the military. Later, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Forces, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, publicly stated that he fully accepts responsibility for the incident.
In 2023, an Iranian court sentenced ten servicemen involved in the incident. One of the commanders received 10 years in prison, the other nine received from one to three years.
Instead, the International Coordination Group for Victims of Flight PS752, which includes Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom, said the Iran trials are not genuine and should not distract the international community from Iran’s breach of its obligations.
“Neither the trials nor the verdicts announced this week have brought truth or justice to the families of the victims.” – the statement of the group says.
In January 2024, the same group initiated a case within the ICAO Council regarding Iran’s violation of the norms of the Chicago Convention. The council sided with Ukraine, Canada, Sweden and Great Britain, recognizing its competence to consider the case, despite Iran’s objections.
In October 2024, the Coordination Group submitted a Memorandum to the UN International Court of Justice in case PS752, providing compelling evidence of Iran’s violation of the provisions of the 1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation.
