Remarks – Press Conference The Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada

Canadian Forensic Examination and Assessment Team Report

June 24, 2021

Good morning,

Thank you for attending this press conference today.

We all remember the horror of January 8th, 2020, when 176 innocent people died in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 near Tehran, Iran.

Many of those passengers were on their way to Canada, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and dozens of others with links to our country.

Our sense of shock and disbelief was compounded when—the very next day—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that multiple sources indicated that the flight had been shot down by Iranian surface-to-air missiles.

From that point on, we vowed to the grieving families that we would seek transparency, accountability and justice on their behalf.

We knew we could not solely rely on Iran to produce the answers the families deserve.

We set up the Canadian Forensic Examination and Assessment Team so experts across government departments would analyze all available information and intelligence to share publicly a clearer picture of what happened.

Today, the forensic team released its report, which can be found online.

The report brings to light information confirming that Iran’s decisions, actions and omissions—by civil and military officials at the highest levels—led to this tragedy and it supports the Government of Canada’s determination that Iran is 100% responsible.

It highlights Iranian authorities’ recklessness, incompetence and wanton disregard for human life.

It also shows how Iran has covered up information and bulldozed the crash site, providing only a misleading and superficial account of events.

The forensic team has come to the following 3 key findings:

• First, Iran failed to ensure the safety of its airspace and to notify airlines of the risks, thus setting the stage for a terrible tragedy to occur.
• Second, a surface-to-air missile operator made a series of extremely flawed decisions that could have—and should have—been avoided, which resulted in the operator launching missiles with the intention to destroy what was perceived as a hostile target.
• And finally, Iran’s military command and control did not address the failures of the surface-to-air missile unit operator in a timely manner and had completely failed to put in place the necessary measures to prevent this disaster.

The facts are clear. Iran is responsible for the deaths of 176 innocent people.

To the families who continue to grieve their loved ones, I want to reiterate our commitment to hold Iran accountable and seek full reparations in accordance with international law.

This includes seeking from Iran a full accounting of the events that took place, complete transparency regarding the ongoing criminal prosecutions and concrete guarantees from Iran that measures have been taken to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

We have delivered a notice of claim that is the first step in the process of negotiations with Iran on the matter of reparations.

We will do this by working with other impacted countries as part of the International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752.

The victims of Flight PS752, their families and their loved ones remain close to our hearts.  

We will continue to do everything possible to help them find closure and a sense of justice.

Thank you.