Guelph, Waterloo students and alum remembered a year after the downing of flight 752

Friends and family members of passengers who died aboard Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 are remembering their loved ones and pushing for answers about the circumstances of their deaths. 

The Iranian government has said that its military "unintentionally" shot down the Kiev-bound plane shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020. The crash killed all 176 people on board, many of whom had ties to Canada.

Since then, family members say they have struggled to get answers about how it happened. 

"We want to know who ordered this crime," said Azamat Azhdari, whose sister, University of Guelph student Ghanimat Azhdari, died in the crash. 

"Who arranged it and who did it? We want answers to all these questions, and after discovering the truth, we want punishment to all those who did this.

We want them to attend an international court of justice."

The Canadian government has been supportive, Azhdari said, but "in the future, we just need a result."

Azhdari described her sister as a hard-working person who was full of life, passion and energy. She said her sister didn't deserve to die this way.

"She was an environmental activist, and she was defending the rights of Indigenous people," she said. "It's not only me or my family who miss her, but all the jungles, all the mountains, the nature."

Although it is commonly said that time heals, Azhdari said her family's pain only seems to get worse.

Listen to the interview with Azamat Azhdari:

The University of Guelph on Thursday announced new scholarships to honour Azhdari and fellow student Milad Ghasemi Ariani, who also died in the crash. 

The $5,000 scholarships will be offered to qualified graduate students for the next five years, the university said in a news release. 

Last fall, the University of Waterloo issued degrees posthumously to two students from that university who died in the disaster: Mansour Esnaashary Esfahani, who was doing a PhD in civil engineering and Mari Foroutan was a PhD candidate in the department of geography. 

Esfahani's wife, Hanieh Dehghan, said at the time that she appreciated the university's action but was upset that the downing of the aircraft had put an end to her husband's lifelong learning.

"All of the families of the passengers ... I think they want to see that to see that someone [is] at least punished," she said.

University of Waterloo alumnus Maryam Ebrahimi, meanwhile, is remembering fellow alumni Mojgan Daneshmand and Pedram Mousavi who she became friends with during her time at the university. 

Ebrahimi, now an assistant chemistry professor at Lakehead University, connected with Daneshand and Mousavi through the school's Iranian community shortly after moving to Waterloo to do her PhD, she said.

She remembers them as energetic, intelligent, positive, and determined people who were very much in love.

The couple were finishing their graduate studies just as Ebrahimi was starting, she said. Watching them move onto professorships at the University of Alberta provided her with an example of the success that she herself aspired to, she said.

The feeling of knowing that they died on the doomed flight is one she struggles to find words to describe, she said.

"When I was watching the news, I saw their picture, their family with their two daughters. That was a big shock for me. I couldn't believe that they were on that plane," she said. 

"Emotionally, each time I look at their picture, you just think, 'Why these great people, among those other 176 passengers?' Their lives were cut short so soon."

Ebrahimi said she hopes that those responsible for their deaths will be brought to justice.

"I think that's the minimum that … would give the families of the victims a sense of small relief," she said. "Otherwise, the pain would remain and be enhanced every day." 

She recognizes that Canada is working on the issue, she said. But she added, "I'm not sure how much progress is [being] made."