TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran will not compensate Ukraine International Airlines for its plane Tehran accidentally downed in January because the passenger jet was insured by European firms, the head of Iran’s Central Insurance Organization said on Monday.
"The Ukrainian plane is insured by European companies in Ukraine and not by Iranian (insurance) companies,” said Gholamreza Soleimani, according to the Young Journalists Club news website. "Therefore, compensation should be paid by those European companies.”
Iran’s air defense forces shot down the Ukraine International Airlines flight with a ground-to-air missile on Jan. 8 just after the plane took off from Tehran, in what Tehran later acknowledged as a "disastrous mistake” by forces who were on high alert during a confrontation with the United States.
Soleimani’s comments concerned the aircraft and did not address potential compensation for victims’ families. There was no immediate comment from European aviation insurers.
Last month, Iranian and Ukrainian officials held talks on the compensation, with another round set for October.
In a July report, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization blamed a chain of mistakes - such as a misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air defense operator and his commanders - for the plane crash that killed 176 aboard, including 57 Canadians.
The downing occurred at a time of high tension between Iran and the United States.
Iran was on alert for attacks after it fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. forces in retaliation for the assassination on Jan. 3 of its top military commander, General Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. missile strike at Baghdad airport.