Tehran asks Canada to share intelligence inputs on Ukrainian plane crash

Iran has asked Canada to the share intelligence inputs referring to which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that an Iranian missile brought down the Ukranian airliner. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has invited Boeing, the plane manufacturer, to take part in the enquiry after reports emerged that the crash was a result of a ballistic missile hitting the aircraft.

Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa, Trudeau had said that the preliminary review of evidence indicated that the Boeing 737-800, carrying 63 Canadians, was hit by a surface-to-air missile. He added that the evidence suggests very clearly a possible and probable cause for the crash but maintained that this may have been done accidentally.

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'Will not speculate the cause'

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Response Operations Center has designated an accredited representative to the investigation after receiving formal notification from Iran’ Civil Aviation Organisation. The agency said that it will not speculate about the cause of the crash and any questions regarding the progress of the investigation should be directed towards Iran’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Board.

Read: UK Demands Full Probe Into Iran Air Crash, Even US Officials Say It Was Downed By Missiles

On January 8, the Ukranian plane crashed in Tehran soon after take-off and 176 people were killed in the accident. The people aboard the crashed jetliner belonged to Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. 

“The NTSB continues to monitor the situation surrounding the crash and evaluate its level of participation in the investigation,” the agency said in a statement.

Ukranian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs said that the circumstances of the crash are still unclear. “It is now up to the experts to investigate it and to find answers to the question of what caused the crash. To do so, our experts must receive unconditional support for their investigation into the incident,” said the minister in a statement. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also called for a ‘full, credible and transparent’ investigation after reports of a surface-to-air missile strike hitting the aircraft surfaced.

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(With inputs from agencies)