Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has claimed that based on some intelligence reports an Iranian surface-to-air missile caused the Ukrainian plane to crash killing at least 170 people onboard.
In a video of the press conference, Trudeau said the act may have been “unintentional”.
“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. This may well have been unintentional,” he said.
Trudeau said he wanted to have a thorough investigation on this to determine the actual cause.
“Canadians have questions and they deserve answers,” he added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provides Canadians with an update about the fatal plane crash in Iran. pic.twitter.com/Rrcfdv3jSp
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) January 10, 2020
The plane, which had 63 Canadians on board, crashed on Wednesday morning, hours after Iran had launched 22 missiles against two military bases housing American troops in Iraq.
This attack was in retaliation for the United States killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, considered one of the most powerful figures there.
However, Iranian investigators said in an initial report that the Ukrainian Airlines flight was on fire before it crashed.
In a separate report by Reuters, it quoted Iran’s civil aviation organization saying the plane had experienced an unspecified technical problem shortly after it took off.
The Iranian report cited witnesses on the ground including a passing aircraft flying at a high altitude.
Meanwhile, Trudeau said Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has already spoken to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on this matter.
Champagne has made it clear to Zarif that they should be granted access to Iran in order to provide consular services, identify the victims, and participate in a thorough investigation.
