Canada to give families of Iran plane tragedy victims US$19,000 each
- Trudeau says he still expects Tehran to compensate relatives, but funds are needed now for funerals, bills and travel costs
- Asked if US is to blame for incident, prime minister says Iran bears full responsibility for shooting down civilian aircraft
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday his government will give C$25,000 (US$19,122) to the families of each of the 57 citizens and 29 permanent residents of Canada who died after a Ukrainian passenger plane crashed in Iran last week.
Trudeau said he still expected Iran to compensate the families but added that they need help now for funerals, travel to Iran and bills. He said any money Iran provided at a later date would go straight to the families and would not be reimbursed to the Canadian government.
“I want to be clear, we expect Iran to compensate these families,” Trudeau said. “But I have met them. They can’t wait weeks. They need support now.”
Iran's Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 outside Tehran on January 8. According to Iranian officials, the plane’s path came too close to military facilities at a time when Iran was on alert due to heightened tensions with the United States.
Asked if the US bore any responsibility after President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s top general, in an American air strike in Baghdad, Trudeau said Iran had full responsibility for having shot down a civilian airline with 176 people aboard.
The prime minister also said the aircraft’s “black boxes” had been significantly damaged and Iran did not have the expertise or equipment needed to look at them. He said France had a lab that can do it, and that there was a need to do so as quickly as possible.
The spokesman for the French accident investigating bureau, or BEA, said it had no information about eventually obtaining the demolished plane’s black boxes, the voice and data recorders, to decipher them. Sebastien Barthe added that it was up to Iran, which was in charge of the investigation, to decide the matter.
Trudeau said no remains of Canadian victims had returned to Canada yet, but he expected that to start happening in the coming days.
Iran arrests suspects in ‘unforgivable’ plane disaster, as protests persist
The prime minister held the news conference in Ottawa after Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Muscat, Oman on Friday.
A statement from Champagne’s office said the two discussed the need to provide consular services to assist in ensuring victim identification and the importance of a transparent investigation.
“The ministers also discussed the need for a transparent analysis of the black box data, to which Iran agreed. In addition, they discussed the duty Iran has towards the families of the victims – including compensation,” the statement read.
“Minister Zarif expressed his support for Iran continuing to work with Canada and all grieving nations in these respects.”
Canada suspended diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, but Trudeau and Canada’s foreign minister have been in touch with their Iranian counterparts since the plane was shot down.
Iran downed the flight as it braced for possible American retaliation after firing ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq housing US forces. The missile attack, which caused no US casualties, was a response to the killing of Iran’s top general.
Trudeau has called the downing a Canadian tragedy because 138 of the passengers were headed for Canada. He confirmed for the first time that those included 29 permanent residents of Canada.
Victims included students, newlyweds, doctors and parents. The youngest was a one-year-old girl.
Top diplomats from the countries who had victims met in London on Thursday to demand Tehran accept “full responsibility” and pay compensation to the victims’ families.
