Canada, Britain, Sweden, and Ukraine announced today that they have filed a formal complaint to the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization in an effort to hold Iran accountable for shooting down a passenger plane in January 2020 that caused the death of 176 people. Most of the victims were citizens of the four countries that established a coordination group seeking to hold Iran accountable.

The countries announced in a statement, "Today we jointly initiated dispute settlement procedures before the International Civil Aviation Organization against the Islamic Republic of Iran for its use of weapons against a civilian aircraft during a flight."

Last June, the four countries said they would take their case to the International Court of Justice.

The authorities in Iran announced that the Revolutionary Guard accidentally shot down the "Boeing 737" and attributed responsibility for the incident to inaccurate radar and an error made by the air defense operator, at a time when tensions were high between Tehran and Washington.