Thursday, January 09, 2020

Canada believes Flight PS752 was shot down by Iran: Trudeau

Ryan Flanagan
Ryan FlanaganCTVNews.ca Writer
Published Thursday, January 9, 2020 9:36AM ESTLast Updated Thursday, January 9, 2020 2:47PM EST
TORONTO -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the plane that crashed in Iran Wednesday morning, killing all 138 people aboard, was shot down by an Iranian missile – perhaps by accident.
“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,” the prime minister said Thursday afternoon at a news conference.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that he also believes Iran was responsible for the plane going down.
Ukraine Airlines flight PS752 when crashed near Tehran shortly after taking off. Sixty-three of its passengers had Canadian passports, and many others were living in Canada as permanent residents or on visas.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Phillippe Champagne has talked to his Iranian counterpart about the crash. According to a summary of the phone call released Thursday by Global Affairs Canada, Champagne pressed Mohammad Javad Zarif to allow Canadian officials into the country to take part in the investigation, help identify the victims and provide consular services.Iran has said that it has invited Canadian investigators to take part in the probe.

Canada and Iran have not had formal diplomatic relations since 2012, when Canada labelled Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.

This is a breaking news update. More details to come.

With files from The Canadian Press

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