Families of PS752 Victims Warn UN Official Neda Al-Nashif: Your Plane Might Also Be Hit by IRGC Missiles

Several families of the victims of flight PS752, ahead of the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Deputy Neda Al-Nashif to Tehran, have sent an open letter warning her not to forget that "the sky of Iran is not safe" and that IRGC missiles might also hit her aircraft. This letter refers to the IRGC's missile strike on a Ukrainian passenger plane that killed 176 people on January 8, 2020. In the open letter published on Tuesday, January 30, by the 'Families of PS752 Victims Association' on the messaging platform X, the families also warned that she might be "arrested as a hostage upon arrival". They added: "Given your prominent position at the UN, you are a suitable candidate for hostage-taking and bargaining with passive Western governments and ineffective international organizations to extend the life of this regime by days and months through your release." The letter stated: "The sky of Iran is not safe, and your plane may also be chosen like our innocent loved ones and be hit by IRGC missiles." The families of the victims told Neda Al-Nashif: "When you wear a hijab to please the officials of the Islamic Republic, remember that dozens of women have been killed in the struggle against compulsory hijab, and dozens of men who stood alongside Iranian women have lost their lives at the hands of the Islamic Republic." They requested that if she travels to Iran despite all these risks, she should "only meet with the families of hostages taken in Iran" and visit those whose loved ones receive death sentences in illegal revolutionary courts without a lawyer and are not allowed to mourn their losses. This group of families also asked Neda Al-Nashif to "meet with the families of victims of legitimate protests, who have been beaten or lost their eyes due to gunfire and are imprisoned and tortured." They emphasized that the officials of the Islamic Republic would not take Neda Al-Nashif to meet the victims and that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Deputy would become "a tool for legitimizing a criminal regime" during this visit. The letter concluded: "When taking a commemorative photo with the officials of the Islamic Republic, remember that we, the people of Iran, do not forgive or forget those who collude with the mafia of the Islamic Republic." Neda Al-Nashif is scheduled to travel to Iran on February 3 to address two human rights issues regarding "executions" and "women's rights." Ahead of this trip, the wave of executions in Iran has intensified, with at least six political prisoners executed in Qezel Hesar prison. Additionally, Shirin Ebadi, head of the Human Rights Defenders Center and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has written to this UN official urging her to cancel her trip to Iran, and 25 human rights organizations have warned Neda Al-Nashif that the Islamic Republic will exploit her visit for propaganda. Hamed Esmaeilioun, in response to Neda Al-Nashif's visit to Iran, expressed his expectation that she would "immediately go to Evin prison upon arriving in Tehran" and "visit prisoners who are on death row."