OTTAWA/WASHINGTON : A Ukrainian airliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people aboard, was likely brought down by an Iranian missile, claimed Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, citing intelligence from Canadian and other sources.
The destruction of the airliner, which carried 63 Canadians, “may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau told a news conference in Ottawa.
“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,” he claimed.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight to Kiev from Tehran crashed on Wednesday hours after Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. targets in Iraq, and Iranians were on high alert for a U.S. military response.
Read more: US believes Iran mistakenly shot down Ukrainian airliner: reports
Earlier, the US officials said that a Ukraine airliner was most likely brought down accidentally by Iranian air defenses.
One US official said US satellites had detected the launch of two missiles shortly before the plane crashed, followed by evidence of an explosion. Two officials had said Washington believed the downing of the plane was accidental.
According to an initial report by Iranian investigators, a Ukrainian airliner was on fire immediately before it crashed southwest of Tehran killing all 176 onboard.
