Iran Rejects UN Fact-Finding Mission

As the case drags past its third year, Western powers are growing tired of Iran’s lack of action and are now escalating to the global legal body, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, filing action on July 5. 

The case, listed as “concerning a dispute under the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation (the “Montreal Convention”), is a desperate bid to help gain justice for the families of the flight PS752 of January 8 2020, on which all 176 people on board died when it was downed by Iranian missiles.

The plane, which was en route to Kiev and transporting mostly Iranians, crashed minutes after takeoff near the Iranian capital, shot down by Iran’s air defenses amid tensions between Tehran and Washington following the US assassination of IRGC’s Qassem Soleimani in Iraq days earlier.

The regime has since been claiming to be open to talks for years since the tragedy but nothing has moved forward since other than some low level prosecutions, several of which have even since been appealed.

In a press release last week, the ICJ stated that the the United Kingdom, Canada, Ukraine and Sweden “claim that Iran has violated a series of obligations under the Montreal Convention as a result of the shooting down on 8 January 2020 of a civil aircraft in service, Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, by military personnel of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”.

In the application, the joint statement accuses Iran of having “failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the unlawful and intentional commission of an offence described in Article1 of the Montreal Convention, including the destruction of Flight PS752. It also subsequently failed to conduct an impartial, transparent, and fair criminal investigation and prosecution consistent with international law”.

In a typically dogmatic response, Iran’s foreign ministry said Monday that the escalation of the case to the ICJ is only serving “political objectives”, and maintains that the country formed an independent technical group right after the incident and took necessary actions “with goodwill, transparency, and utmost seriousness” to investigate.

“Following the tragic incident involving the Ukrainian plane, the Islamic Republic of Iran has officially, in accordance with domestic laws, international commitments, and with goodwill, transparency, and utmost seriousness, taken necessary actions to shed light on various aspects of the incident,” the statement said.

However, Canda and Ukraine have repeatedly complained that Iran has stonewalled and not cooperated in allowing an independent investigation.

The recent join application reflects the growing fatigue not only for the scores of families left devastated, but for the global powers fighting for justice. 

Last year, Marilyne Guèvremont, a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada, said the issue had become futile, with inaction from Iran making any attempt at discussions in vain. She told Iran International: “We are now focused on the subsequent actions to resolve this matter in accordance with international law. We will not rest until the families get the justice, transparency and accountability from Iran that they deserve.”

It is the fifth time in the past six months that Mohammadi, a renowned author and campaigner, has been summoned but refuses to attend.

On June 18, Mohammadi received a notification from the Second Branch of the Evin District Security Court, to appear in court for her activities since her imprisonment in Evin Prison, where she continues to defy authorities by revealing the brutal conditions inside the country's notorious jail.

Mohammadi, whose punishment has included long stints of solitary confinement, has been summoned for a total of 11 times to Branches 1, 2, and 3 of the Evin District Security Court, as well as to Branch 29 of the Revolutionary Court. However, she has not attended any of the hearings.

Mohammadi has defiantly argued that the regime cannot silence her through fabricated cases, trials, and consecutive verdicts. She has also declared that she will not appear in any court and does not recognize the Islamic Republic, the judiciary, or court rulings.

She was arrested on November 16, 2021, and one year after being released, was detained again. Currently, she is serving a total sentence of 9 years and 8 months, along with 154 lashes and additional penalties in Evin Prison. She has also been denied access to medical care amid deteriorating health.

Mohammadi has been imprisoned several times over the past two decades for her work fighting for human rights.

In her letter to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March, she said she is ready to testify against the authorities of the Islamic Republic regarding the torture, harassment and abuse of prisoners.

He was convicted of "corruption on earth" which includes offences related to religious morality and carries the death penalty.

According to his lawyer Rosa Etemad Ansari, Salehi was acquitted of insulting the Supreme Leader and cooperating with hostile governments and had been moved out of solitary confinement into the general section.

In the aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in September, Salehi was among the mostly young Iranians who flooded the streets.

As a result of the security forces' crackdown on the protest movement, over 520 people died and nearly 20,000 were unlawfully detained, activists have said. Following sham trials, the judiciary imposed harsh sentences on protesters, including the death penalty.

Earlier, a number of Iranian lawyers and activists expressed concern over the secret trial of Toomaj Salehi.

On June 22, representatives of the German, Austrian, New Zealand, and Italian parliaments, who have become Salehi's political sponsors, announced that the court proceedings concerning the singer's charges were held 230 days after his arrest without media coverage or official notification.

Three parliament members of Germany, Italy and Austria also demanded access to his file.

Inside Iran, public protests were held against the imprisonment of the dissident singer with people chanting slogans or putting up posters of Salehi in various cities.

The Iranian diaspora also organized several rallies across Europe and America in recent months to support Salehi and other political prisoners.

The 33-year-old rapper had criticized the Iranian regime in songs and music videos that were widely shared online.

In an interview with semi-official Mehr news agency on Monday, Issa Zarepour claimed the objective is to open up connections to remote areas.

“Although over 4,000 villages have been connected to high-speed internet since the start of the Raisi administration, we still have about 3,500 villages that are not connected to high-speed internet, so satellite internet service providers can operate in these regions,” he said.

However, he admitted there will be strict compliance rules for any company the regime agrees to work with, meaning technical cooperation for censorship of Internet content.

Iran has made the same demand from Western social media platforms for not blocking their access.

Starlink, part of the US-owned SpaceX, is already providing internet to almost 60 countries, but for its connection to work everywhere in a large country, ground stations are needed.

The regime has for years been severely restricting internet access as well as access to popular social media platforms, such as Instagram, in particular that play a key role in supporting anti-regime sentiment and protester communications.

It has meant devastation for the millions who rely on social media to promote their businesses and hugely damaged e-commerce.

Recently, an Iranian official stated around 800 Starlink satellite internet receivers have been imported to Iran, but did not specify how, given the current sanctions imposed on the country.

On Saturday, a group of Iranian war veterans once again staged a rally in Tehran to protest hardship amid a minimum 70-percent food price inflation and their inadequate pensions.

Videos published on social media show that the security forces and law enforcement agents fired tear gas with some veterans in critical condition due to the inhalation of the gas.

In another video, some of the participants called the officials of the Martyrs’ foundation and the Islamic Republic authorities "liars" and "criminals".

This is not the first time the war veterans protest against their poor living conditions.

In the past years, they gathered many times in front of the parliament urging lawmakers to resolve their issues.

In August, Iran's Council of Retirees reported that one of the veterans wounded in the Iran-Iraq war, named Khosro Yavari, set himself on fire and died in Songhor city of Kermanshah province due to financial hardship.

Earlier, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf admitted in a televised speech in March that the Islamic Republic has failed to resolve economic problems and control inflation. He said the regime has not been able to help people in covering their daily life expenses.

These remarks come at a time when inflation has increased sharply this year and MPs have warned against another wave of inflation in the coming months.