Iran: Jail terms for those behind downing of Ukraine flight

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian court has sentenced an air defense commander allegedly responsible for the deadly downing of a passenger plane amid Iran-U.S. tensions several years ago, a state news agency reported Sunday.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard mistakenly shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight in January 2020. The missile strike killed all 176 people on board and came as Tehran and Washington teetered on the brink of war.

The Guards commander who officials purport ordered the strike was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the official judiciary news outlet said.

Mizan said the commander did not follow protocols in the moments leading up to the shooting down of the plane. The commander was ordered to pay fines to families of victims, the report added.

Mizan said the court also sentenced two personnel allegedly involved in running the surface-to-air missile system Tor M-1 to one year in prison each.

After a lengthy series of hearings, the court sentenced at least seven other personnel and air defense officers to up to three years in prison. According to Mizan, the verdicts are appealable within 20 days.

The report did not identify any of the defendants by name or further details.

The judiciary news agency also said Iran’s government plans to pay $150,000 for each victim to their families. It did not elaborate on how this money will be delivered to the families.

The hearing sessions have faced international criticism since starting in 2021. At that time, an association of the victims’ families also criticized the hearing and cast doubts on the court’s legitimacy. The group also alleged that none of the defendants were present at hearings.

Just hours before the shootdown in January 2020, Iran had fired ballistic missiles at American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

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