Iran takes four countries to top UN court over 2020 downed jet

Iran on Thursday filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain over a 2020 plane crash that killed 176 people, the court said.

The four countries had citizens on a Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 that was downed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020.

Three days later, Iran admitted that its military fired two surface-to-air missiles at the Kyiv-bound plane by mistake.


Iran is appealing against a March decision of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over the case.

The Montreal-based UN body decided it had jurisdiction to rule on a case brought by the four countries against Iran, accusing Tehran of "using weapons against a civil aircraft in flight."

Iran called on the ICJ to rule that ICAO did not have jurisdiction in the case and to quash its decision.

Britain's foreign ministry had welcomed the ICAO decision, saying it took them "a step closer to holding Iran to account for its illegal downing" of the plane.

"We will now proceed to the next phase in our case against Iran at ICAO ... We remain committed to seeking justice, transparency, and accountability for the 176 innocent victims and their families," the UK said.

In a separate case, the four countries dragged Iran to the ICJ in 2023 asking the court to make Tehran pay "full compensation" to the families.

In 2020, Iran offered to pay "$150,000 or the equivalent in euros" to each of the victims' families.

Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticised the announcement, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.

The ICJ was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between UN member states.