Israel Conspiracy Comments Added Salt to Our Deep Wounds

Families seeking justice for those who died when Revolutionary Guards shot down a passenger plane have been dealt a fresh blow. 

On April 5, member of parliament Hassan Norouzi claimed the plane had been “in Israel a week before the crash and appears to have been tampered with.” 

He added that the military had done a “good job” in dealing with potential threats from Israel.

“There will be no reprimand or arrest,” Norouzi said. 

The head of the judiciary of the Iranian Armed Forces admitted no one had been arrested, but said “large-scale investigations” were underway and “one person is still in custody.”

But the MP’s conspiracy claims have angered the bereaved families, who have sp set up the Families of Flight PS752 Association to ensure justice is carried out on behalf of their loved ones.

”With these remarks, it was as if the plane crashed all over again,” said Hamed Esmaeilion, a Canadian writer and dentist who lost his wife and daughter in the crash and who is spokesman for the group.

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“We are now 90 days on from the crime. The families are all staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic. And it has now been three days since the road to the victims’ resting place has been closed. Of course, as a friend said, ‘resting place’ may not be a suitable term for their graves, because a resting place is for those who die in a normal way and are put to rest.” 

Esmaelion pledged they would bring the “perpetrators and those who ordered this crime to justice,” and said that comments such as Norouzi’s, as well as videos, tweets and other statements from Iranian officials would all be filed as evidence to be used in the case, and to bring about prosecutions.  “We will not let these people get away with it,” he said.

He added that Ralph Goodale, Canada's special advisor to the Flight PS752 investigation, had called for a meeting with the families. “I hope this meeting will take place — at least online — in the coming days,” Esmaeilion said. 

“Ninety days have passed and the only thing we are able to do is to light a candle for our loved ones,” he said.