September 3, 2021
The Iranian government has announced it has charged two Pasdar generals with criminal roles in the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet in January 2020.
It was the first time Iran revealed that anyone other than junior officers had been charged in the case, which has been a huge embarrassment for the Islamic Republic.
The military tribunal charged with trying all those involved in the destruction of the passenger plane released the names of nine people it said it was putting on trial. The government earlier said 10 military officers had been charged. The court’s statement did not explain what happened to the 10th officer.
The list was comprised of eight Pasdar officers ranging from first lieutenant to brigadier general and one Army colonel.
The list was contained in a notice sent to the Canadian-based families that tried to file charges against senior Iranian military officials. It was released in Canada August 31 by the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
The notice from the military tribunal said the Iranian courts have been prohibited from entertaining charges against Maj. Gen. Hossain Salami, the commander of the Pasdaran, Brig. Gen. Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Pasdar Air Defense Force, which operated the air defense missiles fired at the Ukrainian plane, and Ali Abedzadeh, who was the chief of the Iranian Civil Aviation Authority at the time of the shootdown. The association had tried to file charges against them
The notice also said the government had banned the prosecution of assorted official agencies, such as the Supreme National Security Council, which the families assert specifically required that Iran’s skies remain open even though the air defense units had been mobilized for fear that the United States would attack in retaliation for Iran firing missiles that day at an airbase used by the Americans in Iraq.
The notice provides the names of the following nine officers and says they have been charged with manslaughter, negligence, recklessness and failing to observe official duties: Pasdar Captain Mehdi Khosravi (TOR M-1 air defense missile unit commander); Pasdar First Lieutenant Meysam Kheirollahi (Operator); Pasdar Third Lieutenant Seyed Ahmad Miri (Operator); Pasdar First Lieutenant Mohammad Majid Eslam Doost; Pasdar Captain Sajjad Mohammadi; Pasdar Major Hamed Mabhout; Army Colonel Mostafa Farati; Pasdar Second Brigadier General Ibrahim Safaei Kia; and Pasdar Brigadier General Ali Akbar Seydoun.
The notice from the court did not make clear what role the two generals played in the shooting down of the plane, killing all 177 people on board. It also did not indicate when a trial could be expected.