By Ken Pole | March 11, 2020 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
Iran’s failure so far to hand over the flight data or cockpit voice recorders from Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, shot down by Iranian missiles two months ago, is “undermining international law”, said Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
On March 10, he told reporters outside the House of Commons that he had discussed the ongoing delay during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv the previous week.
“A good part of our discussion was around the black box and how can we put additional pressure on Iran to deliver,” said Champagne. “I think the world agrees it’s unacceptable; it’s undermining international law.”
He said he is holding out some hope about an upcoming Iranian delegation to Kyiv. “We hope to have some news on that.” He also said Canada and Ukraine are “pursuing other options” through the International Civil Aviation Organization.
“We’ll certainly continue to put the pressure because this is undermining international law and that should not be allowed to,” he said, adding that “it’s not for every nation to decide what Annex 13 provides.”
Champagne was referring to Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation which sets out rules for how accidents are to be investigated, including sharing data from the two key recorders.
Flight 752 was a Boeing 737-800 on scheduled service from Tehran to Kyiv on Jan. 8. It was shot down by an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps missile battery minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport. All 176 aboard were killed, including Canadians and other passengers with links to Canada.
“We need to be making sure that . . . we seek compensation for the victims and also that we pursue the investigation,” said Champagne.
