Retreat of Raisi's Legal Deputy: We Are Ready to Negotiate with Four Countries Regarding the Ukrainian Plane

Three months after Iran's legal deputy called the complaint from four countries regarding the Islamic Republic's role in the downing of the Ukrainian plane 'useless,' he has recently stated, 'The downing of the Ukrainian plane was one hundred percent unintentional, and we are ready to negotiate.' While four countries have complained to Iran for violating international laws in the incident involving the downing of the Ukrainian plane by the IRGC missiles, Mohammad Dehghan, Raisi's legal deputy, said that the downing of this plane was unintentional and Iran is willing to negotiate with these four countries. According to Fars, Mohammad Dehghan stated that in the 'Ukrainian plane case,' 'most of the passengers of this plane were citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this case is mainly domestic, but these countries have filed complaints.' He claimed, 'While we suffered the most from this incident, they have filed complaints and requested negotiations. We have also announced our readiness to negotiate with these four countries regarding the Ukrainian plane to clarify that the Islamic Republic has taken all necessary actions; it is absolutely clear that this was unintentional. No sane person would shoot down their own plane in their own sky, for what purpose?... After the plane was shot down, those involved were tried and sentenced, although some of these countries are not stakeholders; they have complained against us while they have no connection to it. Neither their citizens were on this plane nor were their interests endangered.' These statements contradict his previous remarks in July. On July 15, Mohammad Dehghan told the Mizan news agency that these countries want to portray the Ukrainian plane incident as 'an intentional operation by Iran' to attract the attention of senior judges at the International Court of Justice, 'but in my opinion, this complaint will also lead nowhere.' He emphasized that the Islamic Republic would respond to the International Court of Justice and, in his words, 'there is no cause for concern.' These remarks come as the Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 passengers on board. After two days of denial, Iranian officials finally admitted that the plane was shot down by two IRGC missiles. Canada, Ukraine, the UK, and Sweden, whose citizens were on that flight, have filed a complaint against the Islamic Republic at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, claiming that the Islamic Republic violated several obligations under the Montreal Convention that led to the downing of a civilian aircraft. Their complaint states: The Islamic Republic failed to take all practical measures to prevent the commission of an illegal and intentional act detailed in Article 1 of the Montreal Convention, including the destruction of Flight 752. Furthermore, it subsequently failed to conduct an impartial, transparent, and fair criminal investigation and prosecution in accordance with international laws regarding the perpetrators. Iranian officials tried several low-ranking officials in a military court, but the victims' families who attended this court say that the main perpetrators of the missile attacks on the plane were not tried in this court. The association of the victims' families has also stated regarding this court, 'The case of the crime of Flight PS752 remains open before the people of Iran.' The International Court of Justice, which is the judicial body of the United Nations, consists of 15 judges and is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. The court has not yet issued a ruling regarding the complaint from Canada, Ukraine, the UK, and Sweden against the Islamic Republic.