Last month, amid seething tensions between Iran and the United States over the assassination of a senior Iranian commander, Iranian air defences accidentally shot down a Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737, killing all 176 passengers and crew onboard, among them 57 Canadian nationals.
Canadian lawyers have submitted a class action lawsuit on behalf of the victims of the Ukrainian airliner shot down over Tehran on January 8, and are demanding a payout of at least $1.1 billion ($1.5 billion Canadian), Reuters has reported.
The Iranian state, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards (including Aerospace Force commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh) and others are reportedly named as defendants, and the case alleges that the plane was destroyed ‘intentionally' and constituted a “deliberate act of terrorism.”
The lead plaintiff in the case is anonymous, but has been given the pseudonym ‘John Doe', and is suing on behalf of an immediate family member named as ‘Jack Doe.' The filing claims that ‘John Doe' must remain anonymous out of fear that his Iranian family members could be harmed or even killed “by the Iranian regime.”
The suit was reportedly filed on January 24 in a Toronto court, and it's unclear whether officials representing Iran have been served. The Iranian government has yet to comment on the case.
Jonah Arnold and his father Mark…
