Flight 752 crash: US and its allies believe missiles fired by Iran, downed passenger jet near Tehran airport

American and
allied officials said on Thursday that they had intelligence that missiles
fired by Iranian military forces were responsible for the downing of a
Ukrainian jetliner in Iran and the deaths of all aboard this week in Iran, most
likely by accident.

The
disclosures suggested that the deaths were a consequence of the heightened
tensions between Washington and Tehran that have played out since a US drone
strike killed a top Iranian general last week.

Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau of Canada, citing a preliminary review of the evidence, called
for a full investigation. The jetliner was carrying 63 Canadians among its some
176 passengers and crew.

President
Donald Trump, speaking earlier at the White House, said only that he suspected
that the downing of the plane was the result of “a mistake on the other side”.
Senior US officials were more forthcoming, saying they had a high level of
confidence in their findings.

US
intelligence agencies determined that a Russian-made Iranian air defence system
fired two surface-to-air missiles at the plane, one official said.