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8. ROAD TO JUSTICE 8.1 International Reactions Given the calamity of the downing of Flight PS752, and Iran’s handling of the issues in the aftermath of this agonizing loss of life, the world community showed their shock and denunciation in various ways. These international pressures were momentous at times, but remarkably lacking at others. This section will present an overview of the reactions of the international community following the ebb and flow of the matters relating to PS752. The first political leader to discuss the notion that Flight PS752 was shot down was the US President Donald Trump. On January 9, 2020, in a news conference he said, “somebody could have made a mistake.” He then denied his country's involvement in the disaster, saying the crash was not related to them [21]. The next day Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, presented more information. At a news conference, Mr. Trudeau stated, “Information received from our allies indicates that the launch of a surface-to-air missile, which may have been unintentional, was the cause of the crash.” This statement is believed to have played a critical role in the concession of the Iranian officials, who after three days admitted that the responsibility for this crime was on the Joint Staff of the Military Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following this news from Iran, Mr. Trudeau held another press conference where he spoke about his talks and consultations with other political leaders. The same day, Canada announced the formation of the International Coordination and Response Group in relation to Flight PS752, consisting of Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom. On January 16, 2020, the foreign ministers of the five affected countries held a special press conference, where the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada announced the establishment of an "international investigation team"—a promise that was never fulfilled. In the weeks and months following the disaster, various talks took place and comments were made by officials from Ukraine, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States and Afghanistan. One of the most widely reported of these events took place during the Munich Conference February 2020, where Justin Trudeau met with Javad Zarif, but no progress was made on the case of Flight PS752. In April 2020, there was a talk about a memorandum of understanding between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ukraine, which was later proved to be true, but the Ukrainians did not accept it [181]. Once again, the Swedish Foreign Minister made references to a memorandum of understanding between the Coordination Group and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was again denied. No memorandum of understanding was signed with Iran. The only Memorandum of Understanding remained to be the one between the affected countries in the Coordination Group. With the appointment of Ralph Goodale as the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, the line of communications between the families and the government was better established. Several meetings were held between the Association's board of directors and Mr. Goodale. The result of his work on this file and the feedback from the families was his report in November 2020; a description of what happened in the days before and after the downing, asking twenty-one questions that had yet to be answered. Three rounds of talks between Ukraine and the Islamic Republic of Iran took place in the months of March 2020, October 2020, and June 2021, which according to the Ukrainians these
