Canada's special adviser on the Iranian military's downing of a passenger jet one year ago this week is rejecting Tehran's offer to pay $150,000 to the families of those killed in the tragedy.
Ralph Goodale, the former Liberal public safety minister, says Iran doesn't have the right to offer compensation to victims' families unilaterally.
Goodale told The Canadian Press the final amount would be subject to negotiations between Iran and Canada and the four other countries whose citizens were killed on the plane.
Iranian state television announced on December 30 that the Tehran government was setting aside $150,000 for each family that lost someone on the plane.
The announcement caught Canada and the other countries off-guard and appeared intended to mitigate Iran's growing criticism as the first anniversary of the killings approached.
"There is a negotiating process that has yet to take place," said Goodale. "But it hasn't yet begun. So, it's a bit premature for a number to be circulated in the public domain because none of the other parties involved in this process have had any input whatsoever."
Goodale was appointed last March to lead Canada's response to the Jan. 8, 2020 shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by Iran's Revolutionary Guard that killed 176 people on board. They included 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents, and 53 more travelers bound for Canada, including many Iranian students and citizens of Britain, Afghanistan, Sweden, and Ukraine.