The ultimate aim was to blame the United States for the downing “and unfortunately the unlucky lottery has fallen on this passenger plane.” But the plan backfired, “The United States did not react at all.”
By: Greg Staley
Written On: 2022-08-16
On December 2nd of 2020 the RCMP was handed sensitive information derived from a phone call between Shahin Moghaddam (Who lost his wife Shakiba and son Rosstin in PS752) and a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that indicated that Iran had intentionally targeted flight PS 752 to be shot down. The source names the person who received and carried out the “fire order” issued from the House of the Leader. According to the source, the “Supreme Leader of Iran” Ali Khamenei personally approved the shoot down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS 752.
In late 2020, Shahin Moghaddam communicated with a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The source is purportedly well-placed within the senior ranks of the IRGC and without exaggeration, is in a position to know the information being shared. The information is detailed and highly specified (i.e. including dates and times, names of persons attending particular meetings). That said, there is a sense that additional information may be available (i.e. supporting documents) if this lead is pursued. The source did not seek payment for the information.
The Handoff of the evidence
The RCMP were initially provided with a “brief” of the information (which contained only parts of the transcript) on December 2nd of 2020 (meeting 1). Within days, the RCMP requested the full and original copy (meeting 2). It was supplied to the RCMP as an audio file on a USB. The following is the first hand account of the lengths that Mr. Moghaddam went through to get this evidence into the hands of the RCMP – evidence that the government of Canada says does not exist.
Meeting one
First, Mr. Moghaddam was instructed to go to a plaza near his home. Once there, he was called by the RCMP and told to go to “major Mackenzie and home depot” – referring to a Home Depot located at 55 Cityview Blvd in Vaughan. After arriving at this location, the RCMP called Mr. Moghaddam again and instructed him to go to the Rutherford ‘Go Station’ parking lot. It was at this time that the RCMP came in a van and picked him up. “A van came and they said ok – now we take you from here by our car and then we went in a hotel in [sic] highway 7 and 404.”
The meeting took place at a hotel across from the Ikea located at 200 Interchange Way in Vaughan. Mr. Moghaddam isn’t entirely sure which hotel it was but he believes it to be the Courtyard by Marriott located at 150 Interchange way – a location just 0.3 miles from the Ikea parking lot at 200 Interchange Way. Once at the hotel, Shahin described a scene that very well could’ve taken place in a spy-thriller. According to Mr. Moghaddam, approximately 6-10 RCMP personnel were present at the meeting – this included officers Johnson and McDonnel.
According to Mr. Moghaddam, the RCMP had set up two different rooms within the hotel to be able to receive this information. “One room it was like monitor and computer and stuff with two to three people or four people in it and one to two people in lobby [sic] and about three to four people in the interview room.” It was at this meeting that Mr. Moghaddam provided some of the transcripts from the call with the IRGC member to the RCMP. The evidence was given via USB and was placed in an evidence bag and sealed. Within approximately 3-4 days another meeting was requested by the RCMP to receive the rest of the information.
Meeting two
The second meeting took place at the residence of Mr. Moghaddam “3-4 days later.” It was at this meeting that the RCMP was given the full transcript of the call between Mr. Moghaddam and the IRGC member. What was unusual about this meeting is – the RCMP asked Mr. Moghaddam to sign a formal written ‘consent’ to share the information with the Ukrainian authorities for their investigation. Mr. Moghaddam refused to sign the paper, advising the RCMP that he did not trust the Ukrainian investigation and that he was only sharing this information with the RCMP.
Andy Brooke, a former RCMP officer has reviewed the information presented in this article. Mr. Brooke described the request by the RCMP for Mr. Moghaddam to sign a consent form to share information with Ukraine as “procedurally unusual.” Mr. Brooke added, “Frankly, it is odd and raises questions about the nature of the document presented to a person with limited English language capabilities.”
Other RCMP officers that were known to be involved in the handoff of this evidence (meetings 1 or 2) were Angie MacDonald, Cst. (Daniel) Sturgis and Cst. (Scott) Williamson. The ranks of the officers have been specified where it’s known.
Typical Counter-surveillance
According to former RCMP officer Andy Brooke, the directions given to Mr. Moghaddam by the RCMP (specifically, directing him to attend successive locations before arriving at the location of meeting one) were classic countersurveillance. This is done to ensure that Mr. Moghaddam wasn’t being followed (i.e. by IRGC, or others) and to ensure that Mr. Moghaddam was not leading his own resources to the meeting (for the security of RMCP personnel). Mr. Brooke describes this as “standard operating procedure.”
The Evidence (that the Canadian government says doesn’t exist)
When it comes to evaluating any source or their information for reliability, credibility, accuracy and validity, several critical assessments are necessary. For example, sources and their information are assessed independently. Both are assigned a rating of Unknown Reliability (U/K), Believed Reliable (B/R), and Known Reliability (K/R). Mr. Brooke says that “from an RCMP perspective, the information supplied by this source would, in all likelihood, be categorized as being of Unknown Reliability (U/K).”
Mr. Brooke clarified that this “does not mean that the information being provided is of no value prior to it being assessed and investigated.” He added that it “should not be dismissed or rejected out of hand because its reliability wasn’t immediately determined.” Mr. Brooke concluded that “a competent investigator would not consider not believing or accepting any information without first examining all of its elements or facets in their entirety.“
Statements by IRGC member on the downing of PS 752
One of the most chilling statements made by the source suggested that a passenger plane was to be targeted, and “unfortunately the unlucky lottery has fallen on this passenger plane (referring to PS 752).” The source added that the number of Iranian passengers on the plane created “the illusion for them that they will eventually confuse the issue with a technical error.” The ultimate aim was to blame the United States for the downing of the plane (Iran had just launched attacks earlier that morning on American military bases in Iraq) but the plan backfired, “the United States did not react at all.”
Initially, the source described anger toward the United States for what was perceived as retaliation to Iran’s attack on US military bases. But, when it became known that they had been misled, the “atmosphere of the first and second days were gone.” The source also spoke directly to the pre-meditation of the shoot-down of PS 752 calling the possibility of it being an accident “impossible.”
“Because we know the subject and we know what the mechanism of it is [referring to Standard Operating Procedures], and what happened was impossible.”
IRGC source on downing of PS 752
What made the IRGC member become unsettled with the situation was “Abedzadeh’s confession and press release, which he accepted after repeatedly denying facts and stated on national television that this was an human error.” Ali Abedzadeh, the man the IRGC source is referring to is the head of Iran’s National Aviation Organization.
“Choice of the target was definitely made in coordination with Russia.” – IRGC source
The source told Mr. Moghaddam that there were whispers among the forces, asking why this plane was chosen. “As whispers, it intensified among the forces: Why this flight? Why this plane? Why did it fly?” Addressing this question, the source said that “since Russia has warm relations with Iran and Khamenei, the choice of the target was definitely made in coordination with Russia.” The source added that it “certainly was not ineffective, and not without a role.”
“Since Russia has warm relations with Iran and Khamenei, the choice of the target was definitely made in coordination with Russia”
IRGC source
The source also told Mr. Moghaddam that the operator of the missile battery personally met with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah (Hazrat Agha) Ali Khamenei in an extraordinary meeting less than seven days after the downing. Mr. Khamenei allegedly consoled the operator according to the source.
Secret meeting was held before downing of PS 752, it included Iranian military leaders – IRGC source
In the early hours of the morning on January 8th, a meeting was held out of the public eye. Iran had just launched missiles into US bases in the early hours of January 8th in retaliation for Trump’s killing of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani. According to the source, there were various Iranian military leaders at this meeting. Some of the names at the meeting according to the source included; Major General Hossein Salami, Chief (IRGC); Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari; Commander Law Enforcement Forces (IRGC); Major General Gholam Ali Rashid; Chief Khatemolanbia Central Headquarters (KCHQ)(IRGC); Major General Hassani Sadi; and Deputy Chief KCHQ (Artesh/ Regular Forces). In total the source listed 29 names.
According to the source, “an important decision had to be made in the military discussion” and the presence of the top-ranking military personnel in the country were invited/attended this meeting as a result. “This in itself shows that this work was planned in advance and they knew and were informed and these people were gathered with the knowledge of this issue.”
“This in itself shows that this work WAS PLANNED IN ADVANCE and they knew and were informed and these people were gathered with the knowledge of this issue.”
IRGC source
The source continued, “all of this behaviour suggests that all this was a plot, and a plan, in fact not an [sic] coincidental.” The source elaborated this point by stating “I mean, the number of people that I just mentioned to you, whom all have military affiliation, raises a big question mark on the night of the incident, by itself.”
all of this behaviour suggests that all this was a plot, and a plan, in fact not an [sic] coincidental.”
IRGC source
The source added that the “final decision is made by Mr. Khamenei himself” and that “doing so in this national magnitude of dimension is definitely done under the command and order of Mr. Khamenei … And this happened with the approval of Hazrat Agha Khamenei.”
PS 752 victims belongings looted
The source said that the IRGC was the “very last force that entered the scene [crash site]”. To which the source added that they, “later found out was all intentional and planned, meaning it was not a coincidence.” This would make sense if the desire of Iran was to allow the passenger’s belongings to be looted so as to prevent any evidence from remaining at the crash site. The source said that on the day of the accident “all the items and belongings of the passengers were actually stolen from their bodies in large quantities.”
Three missiles – not two?
While speaking on the topic of the number of missiles fired at flight PS 752, the source mentions Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force (IRGCASF) in relation to the firing of not two, but three (3) missiles. According to the source, the first missile malfunctioned and does not appear on any video’s taken in the area as a result.
Why did this IRGC source speak out?
One can only imagine the emotions one would feel if they found out that their government had targeted a plane full of their own citizens with hopes of blaming it on another nation. According to the source, the reason they decided to speak with Mr. Moghaddam was that they really wanted to help and “to achieve justice.” The source added that those who made this “terrible decision and played a role should be brought to justice and punished for their actions.”
“But, the fact that why I did decided [sic] to talk with you; I really want to help, and to achieve justice, and that those who make this terrible decision, and played a role should be brought to justice, and punished for their actions.”
Results of Canadian government ignoring this evidence
Two things have fallen into place as a result of the Canadian government ignoring this evidence in my opinion. The first is the Yaworski reports that “found no evidence that the downing of Flight PS752 was premeditated.” The second is the issuance of a letter to the families of PS752 by RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki (July 7, 2022) that stated the “RCMP is not conducting its own, domestic criminal investigation into the downing.”
On this note, it is worth stating that the “absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.” For instance, concerning the 57-minute delay of flight PS 752, the Government of Canada’s Yaworski report (page 20) states that “Flight delays for this reason are common in commercial aviation and the Forensic Team found no information suggesting the delay was related to the downing.” The source also described this situation and said “all these are a sign that a delay in time has taken place, with it was planned to buy time, in order to make their final decision.” Isn’t it interesting that the Yaworski report “found” no evidence?
What do we know for sure?
The information provided by this purported source requires further investigation. Regardless, the information presented by the source represents prima facie evidence of premeditation (albeit, unsubstantiated). The Government of Canada has asserted the claim that they have ‘found no evidence’ of pre-meditation on behalf of Iran in shooting down flight PS 752. This claim, however defined is not only seriously challenged by the existence of this information irrefutably established to be in their possession – it is demonstrably false.
We know that the RCMP received the information from Shahin Moghaddam across two (2) separate meetings in December of 2020 – the Yaworski Report was released in June 2021. Without any doubt, the PS 752 file would be assigned a national priority and would require rigorous reporting. Once RCMP ‘O’ Division (Ontario) came into possession of the said information, Divisional HQ would have promptly notified and informed National HQ that it had been received. As a result, there can be no doubt that RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki would have updated the Minister. Therefore, the Government of Canada is aware of the existence of evidence of premeditation.
Put simply, the Government of Canada has blatantly misled (lied to) Canadians on the PS 752 file. In closing, The RCMP’s decision to transfer responsibility for the criminal investigation to Ukraine – in place of a Canadian criminal investigation – amounts to not only an abrogation of responsibility but a disregard for the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada which provides the authority to investigate and prosecute the downing of Flight PS 752 and the (mass) murder of fifty-five (55) Canadian citizens even though it occurred ‘outside Canada’.
The Ukrainian investigation lacks the requisite jurisdiction to address the unique issues related to the sovereignty of Canada and its citizens and our national interests. A Canadian criminal investigation would undoubtedly complement the Ukrainian prosecution, but would also remain independent from the Ukrainian investigation. Another benefit of a Canadian-led criminal investigation is that such a Canadian investigation would not hinge on the cooperation of Iran.
The government of Canada has blatantly lied to Canadians when they stated in the Yaworski report that they had “found no evidence that the downing of Flight PS752 was premeditated” – the question is how will Canadians respond?
The information provided by the source is a reflection of the information available to this source and it is important to recognize that the source was not privy to everything happening/surrounding these events. Some information provided by the source has been withheld to protect the sources identity.
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