TEHRAN: Tehran will pay $150,000 to every family of the 176 victims killed when a Ukrainian passenger plane was mistakenly shot down by Iran in January, the presidency said on Wednesday.

Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s airport on Jan 8, killing all 176 people on board.

Tehran admitted three days later that its forces had accidentally shot down the Kiev-bound Boeing 737-800 plane after firing two missiles, amid heightened US-Iran tensions.

“The cabinet approved the provision of $150,000, or the equivalent in euros... for the families and survivors of each of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash as soon as possible,” Iran’s presidency said.

“This compensation does not prevent the prosecution of the criminal element of the case before the competent judicial authority,” the statement added.

Many of those killed were Iranians and Canadians, with 85 Canadian citizens or permanent residents, some dual nationals.

Iran’s civil aviation authority has said the misalignment of an air defence unit’s radar system was the key “human error” that led to the plane’s downing.

Tehran’s air defences had been on high alert at the time in case the US retaliated against Iranian strikes hours earlier on American troops stationed in Iraq, which in turn had been in response to the US assassination of Iran’s top commander, General Qasem Soleimani.

Ukraine’s foreign minister said in July that he hoped to obtain as much financial compensation as possible in order to alleviate “the pain and mourning” of the victim’ relatives.

A Ukrainian delegation visited Tehran in October for talks on possible financial compensation.

The Iranian foreign minister then indicated that the negotiations had focused in particular on “compensation for families and the airline”.

On Wednesday, Mohammad Eslami, Iran’s transport minister, said the final crash report would be “soon” made public, including a version in English.

“The owner of the plane, Ukraine, and Boeing were present for the investigation,” Eslami said.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2020