Canadian court awards $84M to families over plane shot down by Iran in 2020

An Ontario, Canada, court has awarded $84 million to the families of six people who died when Iranian military forces shot down a Ukraine International Airlines plane in 2020, The Guardian reported. 

In a statement on Monday, the families’ attorney Mark Arnold said they were awarded compensation by the county for the loss of their relatives aboard flight Flight 752. 

The court decision was upheld by Justice Edward Belobaba of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice on Dec. 31, according to The Guardian. 

In what Tehran later called a “disastrous mistake,” the Iranian Revolutionary Guard shot down the airplane in January 2020, killing all 176 people on board, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

Arnold also said he will look into seizing Iranian assets in Canada and abroad, adding his team will look to seize whatever it can to pay what the families are owed.

The families also filed a civil lawsuit against Iran and other officials they believe were to blame for the incident, The Guardian reported. 

A special Canadian forensic team in a 2021 report accused Iran of incompetence and recklessness over the downing of Flight 752, with Iranian officials criticizing the report as “highly politicized.”

The downing of the plane came in the aftermath of U.S. forces killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani in a missile strike at Baghdad International Airport in January 2020.