Iran to pay families of Ukrainian plane victims $30m

Iran said Wednesday it had allocated $30 million in compensation funds for the families of those killed when Revolutionary Guard forces downed a Ukrainian jetliner a year ago. President Hassan Rouhani said Iranian authorities will pay $150,000 per victim, regardless of nationality.

Iranian authorities had initially denied responsibility, only changing course days later, after Western nations presented extensive evidence that Iran had shot down the plane. All 176 people on board died. Rouhani said the compensation payments wouldn't affect criminal proceedings against those who downed the airliner.

"Regardless of whether it was a fault or error or anything else, they will definitely be tried in court," he said. The disaster happened the same night Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting U.S. soldiers in Iraq, its response to the American drone strike that killed Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan. 3. 

(Image Credits: AP)