With the Iranian authorities finally agreeing to hand over the black boxes of the stricken Ukrainian plane to Kiev, a question arises about the next step in the file of this thorny issue, and whether Iran is ready to cooperate with the families of the victims and provide them with appropriate compensation.

Speaking of compensation, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged yesterday (Friday) to provide prompt compensation to the families of the victims, estimated at US $ 19.1 thousand for the family of every Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, who was the victim of the downing of the Ukrainian plane.

It is the "first step" to help with the costs of travel and funeral, Trudeau said. "I want to be clear: We expect Iran to compensate these families ... I have met them and they cannot wait weeks. They need support now."

This compensation will include the families of 57 Canadian citizens, in addition to 29 people who have had a permanent residence permit in Canada, and this incident is considered one of the largest single disasters in which Canada has killed forty years.

While Trudeau stressed that his country is waiting for Iran to pay compensation to families, as it is the main cause of the crash, and said that the money expected from Iran will be for the families of the victims, not the government.

The Canadian Prime Minister’s pledge also opens the door to questions about the amount of compensation Iran must pay to the families of the victims, the airline and insurance companies.

The following provides an overview of what Iran must provide in accordance with international agreements related to this matter:

Warsaw and Montreal Agreements
There are two agreements on compensation that must be paid to victims of aviation accidents, the first is the Warsaw Agreement signed on October 12, 1929, and is concerned with the unification of rules for the payment of compensation to victims of crashes or crashes of civil aircraft, with the aim of ensuring that airlines pay these compensation quickly to the families of the victims without resorting to procedures Long and complex legal.

Its provisions state that the airline will pay $ 8,300 to the family of each victim in plane crashes, whether or not a compensation agreement has been reached with the families of the victims or not, and there is no maximum amount of compensation.

As for the second agreement, it is the Montreal Agreement and it was approved in 2003, but not all countries signed it, as the signatories to date are only 112, and it raised the minimum compensation to 170 thousand dollars for each victim as a minimum.

Legal battle
Legal experts believe that the families of 176 people who died in the accident in connection with a complex legal battle, in which the support of the governments of the victims' countries will be necessary when seeking compensation.

Lawyers say that many of the relatives and relatives of the victims will automatically be entitled to compensation estimated at $ 170,000 from Ukrainian International Airlines, under the Montreal Treaty signed in 1999 that specifies the legal liability of airlines in the event of the death or injury of passengers, but they are entitled to try to claim compensation. Additional.

But others may be due for a much smaller sum. Iran is not a member of the Montreal Treaty and has signed only the previous less flexible treaty known as the Warsaw Treaty.

In theory, this means - according to lawyers - that the families of the victims who lived abroad and who were returning from Iran to their country when the plane was shot down on January 8, may receive the full amount of the compensation in question, while those on board the plane will not be entitled to a single ticket or have started Their journey from Iran or Afghanistan only get 25 thousand dollars, according to the Warsaw Treaty. Some of the passengers on the stricken plane were Afghans.

The airline, which states in the declared rules of both treaties, said that it is not possible to comment on the application of either of them until the completion of the legal procedures, and the Ukrainian government has so far said that it will apply the provisions of the Montreal Treaty to the affected citizens.

Five countries that had nationals on the stricken plane said that Iran should pay compensation to the families of the victims, but these countries have not yet disclosed the nature of the support it intends to provide to achieve this claim.

Does the value of compensation vary?
Each country obliges airlines to pay a specific amount as compensation for accident victims, and the matter varies from country to country.

The US government obliges airlines to pay $ 4.5 million in compensation for each of its citizens in plane crashes, while Brazil requires $ 2.5 million, while compensation in Europe is $ 1.6 million, and in China the compensation amounts to half a million dollars for the family of each victim .

Other factors also determine the value of compensation, including the safety of the plane, the introduction of safety procedures at airports and during flight, and the age and function of the victim have to consider it in the value of compensation, in addition to other factors, including the social and health status, etc., of course, as well as the victim's nationality.

The value of compensation is also affected by the way the plane crashes. In the accident of the Ukrainian plane, Iran's recognition of the accidental downfall was an important point in its favor.

A similar incident
In order to imagine the amount of the amount that Iran may have to pay to compensate the families of the victims, it is useful here to call a similar incident.

On July 3, 1988, an Iranian civilian aircraft, en route from Tehran to Dubai, via Bandar Abbas, with a US air-to-surface missile, crashed, killing all 290 passengers and crew, and an American warship had fired the missile.

After years of judicial deliberations, the US government paid compensation to the families of the Iranian victims of the plane, amounting to $ 61.8 million, but it did not provide an official apology and did not bear legal or criminal responsibility for the plane's downing.

But the current circumstances, the interlocking political stance, the escalating tensions and the stance facing the Iranian regime at the level of the region and the world, all of which are likely to have a major role in determining the amount of compensation that Tehran will pay.

The American Boeing Company has paid compensation estimated at $ 100 million to the victims of the crash of the 737MAX aircraft, which claimed about 346 people, by $ 289,000 to the family.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard accidentally shot down the plane of a Ukrainian International Airlines company with a missile during its flight BS 752 over Tehran on January 8.

Iranian officials said they inadvertently attacked the plane because it appeared to be very close to military installations during a day when Iran was on high alert, and had fired missiles at military bases in Iraq where US forces are stationed.

Tehran expressed deep regret over the shooting down of the plane, and promised to support the families, but has yet to discuss the issue of compensation.