OTTAWA, Jan 17 — Canada’s Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne will meet Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today to discuss Tehran’s shooting down of a Ukrainian airline last week, killing all 176 people on board, including 57 Canadians.
The two will meet in Muscat, Oman, Champagne’s spokesman Adam Austen said. It will be the third time that they will have spoken since the disaster, despite Canada having broken off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012.
The meeting comes after five countries, including Canada, met in London yesterday and demanded that Tehran pay compensation to families of the victims.
Earlier today, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Abbas Mousavi, said all the countries involved in the tragedy should avoid turning it into a political issue, according to ISNA news agency.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is due to hold a news conference at 10.30am ET (3.30pm GMT) to discuss the ongoing investigation into the disaster. — Reuters
