Iran allocates payment to families of Ukraine crash victims

 Iran’s Cabinet has created a compensation fund to pay families of 176 victims of a Ukrainian passenger plane that was shot down by Iranian forces outside Tehran last January, president anunced on Wednesday.

Iran will pay $150,000 for each victim, state TV reported, without specifying a timeline for awards. anuncement comes as families of victims prepare to mark anniversary of January 8 crash and diplomats from nations that lost citizens push Iran for more cooperation on investigation and compensation issues.

re was immediate comment on Iran's anuncement from five countries in talks with Iran about reparations.

For days, Iran denied that its military was responsible for downing of plane. But with extensive evidence emerging from Western intelligence reports and international pressure building, Iran mitted that its military h mistakenly fired at Ukrainian jetliner at a moment of heightened tension between Iran and United States.

Hostilities h reached a fever pitch week before over American drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghd, raising fears of furr violence in region.

Western intelligence officials and analysts believe Iran shot down aircraft with a Russian-me Tor system, kwn to NATO as SA-15. Tehran blamed “human error” for shoot-down, saying in a report released over summer that those manning a misaligned surface-to-air missile battery wrongly identified civilian flight as a threat and opened fire twice without getting approval from ranking officials.

Canian authorities allege that Iran has t disclosed all relevant evidence or provided satisfactory answers to a number of lingering questions, including identities of those held responsible for downing, exact chain of events that led Revolutionary Guard to open fire and decision to leave Iranian air open to civilian traffic same night that Iran launched a barr of ballistic missiles at US forces in Iraq.

plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Ukraine International Airlines bound for Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several countries, including 82 Iranians, 57 Canians, 17 Swedes, 11 Ukrainians, four Afghans and four British citizens according to officials. route was popular with those travelling onward to Cana.

For months, governments of five affected countries have demanded that Tehran accept “full responsibility” for crash and pay compensation to victims’ families in line with international agreements.

Iran, for its part, has sent mixed messs on matter of compensation, with Gholamreza Soleimani, he of country’s main insurance ncy, saying in October that Iran would refuse to pay awards because jet was “insured by European companies.” But or Iranian officials have promised to negotiate compensation with five countries.

“A mistake has been me by us but base of compensation should be decided,” said Mohsen Baharvand, deputy to foreign minister, in September. “We have told our Ukrainian colleagues that international regulations are our basis." association representing families of victims released a statement last week lambasting Iran’s compensation offer and demanding an independent and transparent investigation into crash.

“ families are vigilant and will t sign any document,” statement re. “ murderer cant play role of mourner.”