Published 01:49 IST, January 12th 2020
Trump remains silent after Iran's admission, tweets on everything but Ukrainian jet crash
After Iran took the responsibility of shooting down a Ukrainian plane amid the attacks on US bases in Iraq, Trump’s silence over the issue has become deafening
After an Iranian IRGC commander took the full responsibility of shooting down a Ukrainian plane amid the attacks on US bases in Iraq, US President Donald Trump’s silence over the issue has become deafening. Trump who is usually known to be vocal about a range of issues over his social media is yet to comment on Iran’s defeating acknowledgment.
Deafening Silence
Trump, who is an avid Twitterati, just a few days ago used the microblogging website to threaten Iran. He spoke about targeting 52 Iranian sites which were of historical and cultural significance to the Islamic nation. Trump has earlier used the platform to have a war of words over a serious issue like nuclear war with the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un. However, Trump's silence on the massive development in the Ukrainian plane crash probe has fired many speculations.
This comes as showing solidarity with the Ukrainians over the disastrous incident could take the US President back to his controversial conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky. US Congress had launched Trump's impeachment trial in the light of a whistleblower complaint about his conversation with President Zelensky. Trump had asked the Ukrainian President to investigate a Democratic political rival, Joe Biden, as White House withheld crucial security aid to Ukraine.
IRGC takes full responsibility
A senior Iranian air force commander took the "full responsibility" for missile attack that downed a Ukraine International flight on Wednesday and claimed 176 lives. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), addressed the media in Tehran on Saturday and said he “wished he was dead” upon learning of the Ukrainian jet downing.
US officials on the plane crash
Before Iran admitted to downing the aircraft, US reports had predicted that the crash could have very well been caused by an Iranian missile that might have hit it accidentally. Iran had fired a series of missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing US troops around the same time as the Ukranian flight had taken off from Tehran.
US President Donald Trump, in an older statement, blamed Iran for striking down the Ukranian aircraft. However, the US officials had denied naming the intelligence agency that they cited. The Iranian intelligence report, on the other hand, had previously claimed technical malfunction in the Ukranian aircraft as a reason for the crash.
Image Source: AP
Updated 01:49 IST, January 12th 2020