Officials from Canada, the US and the UK have said that the Ukraine airliner that crashed near Tehran, Iran, was shot down by an Iranian missile.
The crash claimed the lives of all 176 people on board the Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800. It occurred just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two US airbases in Iraq.
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Iraq’s military confirmed that 22 missiles were launched on the Ain al-Asad base and on another base in the capital Erbil.
One US official cited an extensive review of satellite data and said that the government concluded that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles shot down the plane, Reuters reported.
According to three officials, an Iranian radar tracked the aircraft prior to the firing of the missiles.
Based on information obtained from a Pentagon and senior US intelligence officials, and an Iraqi intelligence official quoted by Newsweek, it is believed that Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 was hit by Tor missile manufactured in Russia.
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By GlobalDataISNA News Agency quoted Iran’s head of civil aviation as saying that it was ‘impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane’.
Following the deadly crash, US President Donald Trump said that the incident could have been a mistake and he believes it was not a mechanical issue.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said reports from multiple sources indicated that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile and further added that it was possible that this was unintentional.
BBC quoted UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab as saying that said British nationals were advised not to travel to Iran amid the heightened tensions.
The leaders of Canada and the UK called for a complete investigation into the crash.
Boeing said it would support the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the inquiry. NTSB has already assigned an investigator.
