WASHINGTON – Sweden said on Thursday that Iran agreed to compensate the families of the victims who were killed when a Ukrainian plane was shot down by Iranian forces outside Tehran in January.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said the deal had been closed after negotiations between Iran and the countries with citizens among the victims.
“We have signed a mutual understanding agreement that we will now negotiate with Iran on the amendments, the compensation to the relatives of the victims,” Linde told the Swedish news agency TT.
Linde said there was “no doubt” that Iran would comply with the compensation. The details of any compensation remained unclear.
The Boeing 737, bound for the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, was hit by two surface-to-air missiles and crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8. All 176 on board died.
Iran initially denied having shot down the passenger plane. But three days later, authorities said Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps forces accidentally shot down the plane amid a tense standoff with the United States, calling it a “disastrous mistake.”
The plane fell shortly after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on US military bases in Iraq. The missile bombardment in Iraq was in retaliation for a United States drone attack that killed Iran’s top military commander, General Qassim Suleimani.
The victims on board the Ukrainian plane included citizens of Canada, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Of 176 on board, 57 were Canadians. Many of the passengers were scheduled to take a connecting flight to Toronto.
Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif said last week that his government would send the black boxes of the downed plane to France for analysis, according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.
For months, Canada has required Iran to send the black boxes abroad so that experts can analyze the data.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry, the Canadian Foreign Ministry, Iran’s mission to the United Nations and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.
