Iran must be declared a state sponsor of terror as the world marks the 4th anniversary of the downing Ukrainian airliner

On January 8, 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after it took off from Tehran with two Iranian surface-to-air missiles, killing 176 innocent civilians onboard. Among them were the citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Germany and Afghanistan. The Iranian government claimed that the airliner was shot down accidentally after being “misidentified” by their air defense unit as a “hostile target” but failed to provide any relevant evidence.   

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) calls upon the international community to slap crippling political and economic sanctions on the Iranian regime and confiscate its assets to pay retribution to the families of those killed and to the Ukrainian people.  

“Iran must be held accountable for advancing Russia’s brutal terror against Ukraine and its civilians as it continues to supply deadly Shahed attack drones to the Russian army,” stated UWC President Paul Grod. “Today, we pay tribute to the innocent victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, who died because of Iran’s militarist ambitions, aggressive saber-rattling, and irresponsible behavior. After four years, Iran has not provided any reparations to the families of the victims and refuses to recognize its responsibility. Furthermore, the Tehran regime has joined forces with Moscow and other terrorist organizations in its war against Ukraine and the West.” 

Since Russia’s full-scale brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Iran has formed an unholy alliance with Russia, supporting it with weaponry and military technologies used to attack Ukraine’s energy and other civilian infrastructure as well as to kill innocent men, women and children in Ukraine.  Particularly, the Iranian regime has provided Russia with the Shahed 136 loitering munition technology, which the Russians use to conduct attacks on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure and inflict deliberate carnage on innocent civilians.    

“Any state or private actor that collaborates, enables, or supplies the Russian terrorist state must be subject to the same punishing sanctions and international rebuke as imposed on Russia,” continued Grod. “I have experienced first-hand in Kyiv the air-terror and destruction caused by Iran’s military equipment. The Iranian regime must be stopped immediately.” 

According to the U.S. intelligence, Moscow is seeking to acquire Iranian close-range ballistic missiles, to be used to continue to murder Ukrainians and destroy their homes and infrastructure.     

“The international community must be bold and resolute in countering the Moscow-led Axis of Evil that is responsible for global terrorism. A Ukrainian victory over Russia is the only option to stop Iran’s domestic human rights violations and its promotion of global terrorism. A victory for Russia in Ukraine will embolden terrorist states and other authoritarian regimes to continue to destabilize global security.  Decisive military support for Ukraine is critical to ensuring American and EuroAtlantic security,” emphasized Grod.   

“We call upon the international community to increase pressure on Iran, introduce additional punitive sanctions against the Iranian regime, freeze and confiscate its assets, and pay reparations to Ukraine and the families of the flight PS752 victims. Justice must be served, and evil must be stopped!”