Trudeau: ‘Evidence indicates’ Iran shot down passenger jet

WASHINGTON — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed “evidence indicates” that the Ukraine International Airlines plane that crashed in Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 on board, “was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional.”

Trudeau offered condolences to the families of 63 Canadians who perished in the Boeing 737-800 crash that occurred just minutes after takeoff.

Multiple news reports cited unnamed U.S. officials’ belief that it was highly likely Iran launched a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile that hit the passenger plane, which may have been targeted mistakenly.

If this evidence is confirmed, it will mean that Iran’s decision to launch missiles at U.S. and coalition air bases in Iraq, in retaliation of a U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, resulted in no U.S. casualties, but many Iranian deaths, as most of the plane’s passengers were Iranian.

Taking reporter questions Thursday, President Donald Trump called the plane crash “a tragic thing.”

“It was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood,” Trump continued. “And somebody could have made a mistake. Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s really a question.”

Iran, which had attributed the plane crash to mechanical problems, has held onto the plane’s black boxes.

State media reported Friday that Iran has invited Boeing to take part in the investigation.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Trudeau divulged that he talked with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier in the day and that Zelenskiy told him that Iran would allow Ukrainian investigators to look at the plane’s black boxes in Tehran.

While Canada cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, Canadian Foreign Minster Francois-Phillipee Champagne had spoken with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Trudeau did not rule out the possibility that Tehran deliberately targeted a passenger plane.

When a reporter asked Trudeau if he blamed Trump’s decision to order the drone attack that killed Soleimani for the deadly crash, Trudeau responded, “I think that’s one of many questions that people will be thinking about and trying to find answers to.”

But Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., told CNN that if “what is being projected is true, this is yet another example of collateral damage from the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States.”

On Twitter, Harvard law professor emeritus Lawrence Tribe reacted to Trump’s remarks, “Trump’s “flying in a tough neighborhood” &“it has nothing to do with us’ were typical ‘who, me?’ ” moves. Did it never occur to him that the plane filled with 176 souls would almost certainly never have been targeted by a trigger-happy Iranian missile but for the assassination?”

Jonathan Schanzer of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies had a different take. “Seriously, people. How hard is it to cede that the regime is so caught up in its own belligerence that it just committed a catastrophic error?”

“Also: this was not just a mistake. It happened while the regime was launching airstrikes against bases in a neighboring country. The regime cannot expect to pursue its violent, revolutionary goals and expect business as usual.”

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this story.