Canada says Iran should not be allowed to investigate on the downed Ukrainian plane

On Tuesday, an independent Canadian report issued into a Kiev-bound passenger plane shot down by Iran in January related that Tehran should not be permitted to investigate itself and appealed for changes to civil aviation rules.

The report, written by one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former ministers, Ralph Goodale, the government’s special counsel, stated that the party responsible for the situation is investigating itself, largely in secret. That does not inspire confidence or trust.

It should be noted that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 shot down just after taking off from the Iranian capital’s main airport on January 8, which causing the death of all 176 people, 85 of whom were Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Days later, the Islamic republic said that its forces accidentally shot down the plane after shooting two missiles in the presence of intensified US-Iran tensions.

The same report said that many of this horrific event’s critical details remain unknown, mentioning why Iranian airspace had still open the night of the tragedy. It added: Iran bears responsibility for that because — at least thus far — it has not conducted its investigations (safety, criminal or otherwise) in a truly independent, objective and transparent manner.

Otherwise, in early November, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) appealed on Iran to expedite the accident investigation and issue its final results about the incident. Indeed, Canada declared in early October that it would form its own team to collect and analyze available information on the crash. On his part, Goodale appealed for a review of current international standards that entrust the investigation of an aviation crash to the country where the accident occurred.

the report also related: In the case of a military shoot-down, that means the very government involved in causing the disaster (Iran in this case) is in complete control of the safety investigation, obvious conflicts of interest notwithstanding, with few safeguards to ensure independence, impartiality or legitimacy, adding: This undermines the investigation’s credibility and enables a sense of impunity in avoiding essential questions.

Whereas, Trudeau welcomed the report and appealed on Iran to answer comprehensively, with supporting evidence on the questions linked to the document.