TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday evidence indicates an Iranian missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday and that the strike “may have been unintentional.”
Trudeau says Canadian and allied intelligence supports that. He declined to get into the specific intelligence, but said it appeared it was a surface-to-air missile that struck the plane.
“The intelligence evidence suggests very clearly a possible and probable cause for the crash,” Trudeau told a news conference.
Earlier, U.S. officials said it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed the jetliner, killing all 176 people on board. They suggested it could well have been a mistake.
At least 63 Canadians were on the plane. It crashed just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops amid a confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general. At least 62 Canadians were among the 176 dead.
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