For 42 months, the family members of victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, shot down by Iran, have called for Tehran to be held accountable – and their waiting may now be at an end.
On Tuesday, Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and the UK asked the UN’s top court to open proceedings against Iran for its involvement in the downing of flight PS752.
All 176 people on board, including more than 50 Canadian citizens and permanent residents, were killed when a surface-to-air missile struck the plane three minutes after take-off.
Iran initially denied any involvement, only to later concede that it had hit the plane by mistake.
The incident occurred during an especially tense period between Iran and the US, following the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
“We’re so pleased to see the affected countries finally took this very important step for us,” said Navaz Ebrahim, president of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
Ms Ebrahim's brother-in-law and sister Nilofour were returning to the UK after celebrating their marriage in Iran.
“They had their whole life ahead of them,” she told The National. “They were planning everything and all their dreams were cut short and they were brutally taken away.”
According to the filing at the International Court of Justice, Iran is accused of breaching a 1971 multilateral treaty on threats to civil aviation.
“Iran failed to take all practicable measures to prevent the unlawful and intentional commission of an offence described in Article 1 of the Montreal Convention, including the destruction of Flight PS752,” the filing stated.
Canada, Sweden, Ukraine and Britain also accuse Iran of failing to conduct an “impartial, transparent and fair criminal investigation and prosecution consistent with international law” – something the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims has long contended.
“We're still fighting and we're gonna continue to fight until we find truth and justice for our loved ones,” said Ms Ebrahim.
It has been a long and difficult process for the families, many of whom have rallied together to demand justice.
“My only goal in life is to seek the truth and justice in her name and all the other victims of that flight,” said Kourosh Doustshenas, who lost his fiancee, Forough Khadem, in the incident.
The real estate agent, who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, said his world has been darkened by what happened.
“Ever since I lost her, my life has changed in many ways,” Mr Doustshenas told The National. “I am a highly functional person but as far as having joy in life or looking forward to any kind of happiness, it is gone.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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