Iran says it will not pay to replace Ukraine jet shot down near Tehran in January
No agreement has yet been reached on compensation for victims' families, but Iran says it won't pay for the aircraft itself.
The head of Iran’s insurance regulation agency said European insurance companies, not Iranian ones, should pay compensation for the loss of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger aircraft shot down near Tehran in January.
“The Ukrainian plane is insured by European companies in Ukraine and not by Iranian companies. Therefore, the compensation should be paid by those European companies,” Gholamreza Soleimani, head of Iran’s Central Insurance Organization, said Monday, according to Iran’s state-news affiliated Young Journalists Club. Reuters first brought the quote to light.
Soleimani’s comments did not touch on compensation for the families of the 176 people who died in the crash, a matter of ongoing negotiation between Iranian officials and representatives of the countries who lost citizens in the incident.
Neither Soleimani nor a representative for the agency he oversees immediately responded to Al-Monitor’s requests for comment.
