Raab in memorial to jet tragedy victims, ahead of Ministers’ meeting
THE FOREIGN Secretary has joined a memorial event dedicated to the victims of the passenger jet shot down by Iran ahead of meeting ministers from five other nations to discuss the incident.
Dominic Raab took part in a candle-lighting ceremony at the High Commission of Canada, in central London.
He joined foreign ministers from Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Afghanistan, who all lost citizens in the crash, in lighting a five wick candle before observing a moment of silence.
Behind the Ministers a plaque on the wall listed the names of the crash victims.
Following the memorial event, Mr Raab will join his Ministerial counterparts for a meeting of the International Coordination and Response Group.
In a tweet sent before the memorial event, Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
said he had met Mr Raab and appreciated “his words about firm and unquestionable support” for Ukraine.
He said the two men had agreed to work together over investigations into the plane crash and other issues, including defending Ukraine’s sovereignty.
All 176 people, including four British nationals, on board the Ukrainian International Airlines flight from Tehran to Kyiv were killed when the plane came down moments after take-off last week.
The majority of the plane crash victims were Iranians or IranianCanadians.
British citizens Sam Zokaei, Saeed Tahmasebi Khademasadi and Mohammad Reza Kadkhoda Zadeh were identified as among the dead.
After initially denying claims it was responsible, Iran has since admitted unintentionally shooting down the aircraft.