A Ukraine airliner that crashed in Iran killing all 176 passengers on board, was most likely brought down accidentally by Iranian air defences, US officials said on Thursday, a conclusion Iran dismissed as impossible.
The Ukrainian International airliner bound for Ukraine capital, Kyiv crashed minutes after its take off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on Wednesday, amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
One US official told that the US Satellite had detected the launch of two missiles shortly before the plane crashed, followed by evidence of an explosion.
Iran dismissed the reports as illogical rumours.
“It’s impossible that the missile hit the Ukrainian plane”, Iran’s head of civil aviation was quoted by Iran’s INSA news agency.
The plane carried mostly Iranians and Iranian Canadians.
Later on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa also had intelligence from multiple sources that the Ukrainian airliner was mistakenly shot down by Iran.
US President Donald Trump said that he is “suspicious” about the crash. “It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake”, he said. “Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s even a question”, Trump concluded without offering any evidence.
