Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says intelligence from multiple sources indicates that an Iranian missile downed the Ukraine International Airlines flight that crashed near Tehran on Wednesday.
He says the strike might have been unintentional.
Trudeau was providing an update amid multiple reports earlier Thursday that pointed the finger at Iran for the downing of a the plane, killing all on board including 138 people who were headed to Canada.
B次元官网网址淭he evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional,B次元官网网址� Trudeau told a Parliament Hill news conference Thursday afternoon.
Trudeau said he knows the news will come as a shock to grieving families.
Ukrainian officials have said a missile is on their list of potential causes for the crash.
The plane crashed minutes after taking off from TehranB次元官网网址檚 airport on Wednesday.
Trudeau repeatedly said there needs to be a complete and thorough investigation to get B次元官网网址渁 complete picture of what happened.B次元官网网址�
He said it was too soon to blame the U.S., which triggered a chain of events that led to the crash with its killing of a top Iranian general last week. He said there needs to be further investigation.
The crash came after a week of soaring tensions in the Middle East, occurring just hours after Iran launched missile attacks on bases in Iraq where American and allied troops are stationed. Iran said the attacks were retaliation for the American killing of Maj.-Gen. Qassem Suleimani near Baghdad.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he believes Iran was responsible, without laying direct blame.
B次元官网网址淪omebody could have made a mistake on the other side,B次元官网网址� Trump said in a Washington news conference, noting the plane was flying in a B次元官网网址減retty rough neighbourhood.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淪ome people say it was mechanical,B次元官网网址� Trump added. B次元官网网址淚 personally donB次元官网网址檛 think thatB次元官网网址檚 even a question.B次元官网网址�
Trudeau said he had no comment on what Trump had said.
IranB次元官网网址檚 civil aviation authority is leading the investigation, under international rules for probes of such crashes. The organization said Thursday it had invited Canadian investigators from the Transportation Safety Board to join a growing team probing the crash.
Trudeau said Canadian consular officials are headed to Turkey and that Iran would be open to issuing visas so they could be granted access to the country. He said Iran has indicated B次元官网网址渁n opennessB次元官网网址� to Canada taking part in an investigation. Canada and Iran broke off diplomatic relations in 2012.
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