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The downing of Flight 752 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards was a deliberate act of terrorism, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in a decision released on Thursday, Toronto Star reported.

Justice Edward Belobaba found “on a balance of probabilities that the missile attacks on Flight 752 were intentional.”

“The plaintiffs have established that the shooting down of Flight 752 by the defendants was an act of terrorism and constitutes ‘terrorist activity,’” the judge added.

In the ruling, the Ontario court judge relied on two experts, one of whom concluded that the Revolutionary Guards “knew Flight PS 752 was a civilian airplane and purposefully shot it down with the intent to destroy it.”

The judge issued the default judgment against Iran in a civil suit brought by four families of those killed aboard the Ukraine International Airlines flight on Jan. 8, 2020.

Iran was served with the court papers through Global Affairs Canada, but did not defend itself in the proceedings.

The case names Iran, the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian Armed Forces and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, among others, as defendants.

The decision effectively allows the families in Canada to seek damages from Iran.

While the State Immunity Act would normally shield Iran from Canada’s courts, under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, that immunity does not apply for acts of terrorism.

All 176 passengers and crew, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, were killed when the Revolutionary Guards fired two TOR M-1 surface-to-air missiles at the plane shortly after it left Tehran airport.

The plane crashed four minutes later.