Families of Iran crash victims seek ‘the truth’
Before Armin Morattab’s twin brother got on a flight to Iran last winter, he lent him a pair of skis and made him a promise.
“He said, ‘Use them! Have fun while I’m away and we’ll go skiing together when I return,’ ” said Morattab. “But he never came back. It’s a memory that just ... I miss him. I just miss my brother, you know?”
Morattab’s brother, Arvin, and his wife, Aida Farzaneh, were on a flight from Tehran to Kyiv, Ukraine and then on to Montreal when their plane was shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Jan. 9. He was one of 176 people, including six Quebecers, who died in the missile strike.
Six months later, media reports out of Sweden say the Iranians are prepared to compensate families of the victims.
But Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister hasn’t confirmed that news. In a statement released Thursday, François-philippe Champagne said the International Co-ordinating Group for the Victims of Flight PS752 signed a memo of agreement to begin reparations negotiations with the Iranian regime.
In any case, Morattab says money won’t bring him or the families of other victims the justice they ’ve sought since they lost their loved ones.
“It’s not like losing a family member to a tragedy, this was a crime carried out by the state, this was murder,” said Morattab, who lives in Montreal.
“From the very beginning, the Iranian regime tried to block any investigation of downing of the flight. They were bulldozing the crash site, withholding evidence, denying their responsibility in it.
“Without justice, without a credible explanation for what happened, without the truth, there can be no closure for us. We are stuck in our grief.”
The attack on Flight PS752 came at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the United States.
Iran had just carried out a missile strike on an Iraqi base housing American troops, which was a reprisal for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
With the Iran forces on high alert, soldiers committed an “unforgivable mistake” on the night they downed the Ukrainian International Airlines flight, according to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
But despite some conciliatory words, the regime has obstructed international efforts to investigate the downing of Flight PS752. The government swept crucial evidence from the crash site, it has withheld recordings recovered from the flight’s black box and, at times, halted its co-operation with international partners.
“What we want is not money, it’s the truth,” said Hussein Pourshaniey, a member of Montreal’s Iranian community who is close to some of the victims’ families. “The problem is when you have no answers. This is very difficult for the families.”
Most of the flight’s victims were bound for Canada. But Pourshaniey says that even though they may have sown roots in their chosen country, most have deep ties in Iran. But going back and forth between both countries has been complicated since Canada severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012.
“It makes it harder, when you have no consulate, to get a birth certificate for your children or a burial document for your grandfather,” said Pourshaniey. “Having problems with the regime is one thing, but a lot of us are just regular people caught in the middle.”
Morattab says he cannot go anywhere in the city without thinking of his brother, Arvin.
“We lived closed to each other, there are memories of him everywhere,” he said. “He was a curious guy, a thoughtful guy who loved living here. He was learning French, he had just finished a PHD in engineering. His loss was a great loss for the (Iranian) community but also for all of Canada.”
On their last camping trip together, the brothers went on a hike deep in the forests of the Saguenay region. Arvin had just read the book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.
“We spoke about life, the universe, about everything. He was such a curious person and a joy to talk to,” said Morattab. “And then we got to share a nice moment at the summit, looking at all the wonderful sights around us. It’s a memory I go back to a lot.
“The emotions of the past six months have been all over the place. There’s shock, sadness, rage at all the lies coming out of Iran. But what’s most marking is the emptiness where he used to be.”
What we want is not money, it’s the truth. The problem is when you have no answers. This is very difficult for the families.