Debris from a Ukrainian International Airlines plane which crashed near Tehran I
Debris from a Ukrainian International Airlines plane which crashed near Tehran INazanin Tabatabaee/WANA/Reuters

A Zoom news conference held by lawyers and family members of the victims of a Ukrainian commercial airliner shot down by the Iranian military two years ago was interrupted by hackers, forcing the meeting to end early.

The family members and their legal teams had hosted the meeting to speak about the decision by an Ontario, Canada court to award six families of victims millions in compensation, the Canadian Press reported.

The court ruled that the families of the victims of the crash, which occurred after Iran launched missiles at the passenger jet, were owed over $107 million.

The decision was described by their lawyers, Mark Arnold and Jonah Arnold, as “unprecedented in Canadian law.”

But the legal team said during the meeting that it would not share how it planned to collect the money from Iran. They did, however, allege that they knew were Iran’s Canadian assets could be sought.

“If anybody from the Islamic Republic of Iran is on this call, if the Supreme Leader is on this call, we're coming after your assets, gentlemen, in Iran,” said Arnold. “We would encourage you to contact us and co-operate with us so that we can do it in an efficient and timely manner.”

The Zoom conference was then interrupted by hackers who inserted heavy metal music and obscene images into the call for three minutes. At that point, the lawyers terminated the conference.

The court released its decision on Monday, ruling that after a May ruling that deemed the downing of the planet an intentional act of terrorism, the relatives of those killed were eligible to receive compensation from Iran.

The judge awarded the family members of the victims who brought the case to court $7 million in compensatory damages and $100 in punitive damages along with interest.