(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Iranian regime fired missiles on a civilian airplane killing 176 innocent people.

A year ago on January 8^th, 2020 176 passengers and crew on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 lost their lives when their plane was shot down by two missiles launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

IRGC crime

The IRGC and the Iranian regime have never been brought to account by the international community for this major crime.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the  People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), reported that, at the time of the downing of the airliner, the regime tried to cover itself by lying, something that has become an ingrained habit of theirs. They claimed that the airliner crashed because of an engine failure, something which was easily proved to be untrue. It wasn’t until January 11^th that the regime was forced by evidence readily available that the IRGC was responsible for the crash.

In fact, if the IRGC had not fired the second missile, which was fired 25 seconds after the first one, it may have been possible for the pilots to regain control of the plane and land it back on a runway at Tehran International Airport. However, the two hits meant that the lane and its unfortunate human cargo had no chance of survival.

(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): The university students poured into the streets of Tehran and dozens of other cities after the Iranian regime admitted it had shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane killing 176 people-January 11, 2020

Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani lies

Another lie came from the two leaders of the regime, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, who tried to claim that they had been unaware of what happened. This lie was exposed by IRGC Aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who admitted that he had informed the regime leaders of the error on the same day that it had happened.

The incident didn’t go unnoticed in Iran. The flight was on the way to Canada carrying a mix of people including Iranian nationals. Family members of the deceased and many other protesters took to the streets demanding that the regime leaders be accountable for the shooting down of the airliner. As in previous protests, the familiar slogan of “Death to the Dictator,” could be heard.

(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Thousands of people took to the street in Iran over the downing of a Ukrainian airplane by the IRGC.

Investigation by criminals

One of the victims’ fathers asked the judge at the Tehran Military Court on January 14^th “How can a bunch of criminals participate in this investigation? You are unable to cooperate for an investigation to clarify the facts.” The family members who gathered at the court on that day blamed the regime for their attempted cover-up of the disaster which had killed their loved ones.

1988 massacre

As with the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners, Many of the victims were either members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran). in 1988, the regime has refused to allow a full investigation into the downing of the airliner. The international community has also failed to follow through with an investigation into the incident.

A letter written by human rights experts at the United Nations, published in December last year was directed at the regime demanding that those officials who had been involved in perpetrating the massacre be brought to justice. “To date, no official in Iran has been brought to justice and many of the officials involved continue to hold positions of power including in key judicial, prosecutorial, and government bodies responsible for ensuring the victims receive justice,” the letter said.

(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Historically Significant Letter About 1988 Massacre in Iran.

Impunity encourages the regime to continue further atrocities

The authors of the letter emphasized that the failure to bring the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre to account “had a devastating impact on the survivors and families as well as on the general situation of human rights in Iran and emboldened Iran to continue to conceal the fate of the victims and to maintain a strategy of deflection and denial that continue to date.” “There is a systemic impunity enjoyed by those who ordered and carried out the extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances,” they added.

The regime has repeatedly felt able to get away with atrocities including the death of the 176 occupants of Flight PS752, however unintentional that may have been. It is this impunity that encourages the regime to continue to commit further atrocities including the slaughter of protesters and the execution of political prisoners.

(NCRI) and (PMOI / MEK Iran): Fallen for Freedom in November 2019 Uprising Across Iran.

November 2019, uprising

It is high time for the international community to put firm pressure on the Iranian regime and make them accountable for the 1988 massacre, the murder of 1,500 protesters on Iranian streets in November 2019, and the shooting down of the airliner in January 2020.

Reuters confirmed in a special report on December 23, 2019, about the deadly crackdown on November nationwide protests in Iran the death toll of 1500 that was announced by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran) on December 15, 2019.

and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTube