Iran gives $150,000 to families of victims of shot down Ukrainian plane

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Iran’s cabinet has allocated £110,000 ($150,000 or €121.967) to the families of the 176 victims of an Iranian strike on a Ukrainian plane.

On 8 January 2020, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) shot down a Ukraine International Airline flight which was passing through Iranian airspace, mistaking it for a missile when tensions with the United States were high.

"The cabinet approved the provision of $150,000 or the equivalent in euros as soon as possible to the families and survivors of each of the victims of the Ukrainian plan crash," the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted a government statement.

The strike occurred five days after President Donald Trump launched a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and hours after Iran launched missiles on U.S. bases in Iraq.

The Iranian Government initially denied responsibility for the strike, but admitted fault after three days of investigations by the public and western intelligence agencies.

Every passenger and crew member died as a result of the crash.

Two of the passengers were confirmed to be Iranian, 63 were Canadian, three were British, four were Afghan, 10 were Swedish, and three were German. Eleven Ukrainians were also on board, nine of them being the crew.

Nine days after the strike, the Canadian government announced that it would provide C$25,000 to the relatives of each of the 57 Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were killed in the crash. The funds were to help cover immediate needs, like funeral and travel expenses.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that they hold Iran financially responsible.