10 Nov 2024
Tuesday 14 January 2020 - 16:20
Story Code : 368076

The downing of flight 752 in Iran is a tragedy of complacency

The Guardian | : Lessons from the 2014 Malaysian Airlines disaster were not heeded. Now 176 more people are dead

On 7 January, one day before Iran shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran, as commercial jets piled into the busy air corridor over neighbouring Iraq, I tweeted: I hope the lessons of MH17 are not being forgotten.

That reference to Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 which was shot down by separatist rebels over eastern Ukraine in 2014 might seem like an eerie premonition. But it was simply common sense. My concerns were rooted in a basic grasp of the risks of flying through potential conflict zones. Last weeks tragedy has exposed the abject failure of western governments, intelligence agencies and airline industry groups to protect travellers, as they pledged to in the aftermath of MH17.

Consider what was known in the days leading up to the loss of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752. On 3 January, the US goaded Iran by assassinating its most senior military commander, Qassem Suleimani. Iran vowed retribution for what it saw as a declaration of war. US president Donald Trump then upped the ante, suggesting that any Iranian response might provoke a disproportionate US strike.

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