Four countries sue Iran at UN

Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom filed a lawsuit against Iran at the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, on July 4. They accused Tehran of violating the Montreal Convention in connection with the shooting down of the UIA plane in 2020.

According to the court's press release, the four countries claim that Iran has violated several obligations under the Montreal Convention as a result of the shooting down on January 8, 2020 of a civil aircraft in service, Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, European Pravda reports.

All 176 passengers and crew aboard the flight, many of whom were nationals and residents of the applicant states, were killed in the crash.

According to the claimants, Iran "failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the unlawful and intentional commission of an offence described in Article 1 of the Montreal Convention, including the destruction of Flight PS752."

The claimant states also assert that Iran failed to conduct an impartial, transparent, and fair criminal investigation and prosecution consistent with international law.

Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom seek to found the Court's jurisdiction on Article 36, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Court and on Article 14, paragraph 1, of the Montreal Convention, to which all four Applicants and Iran are parties.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946

Ukraine, the UK, Canada, and Sweden initiated arbitration proceedings regarding the downing of this passenger plane in late December 2022.