Iran rejects missile theory over Flight 752 downing
A look back at the day Iranian officials dismissed claims that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 had been struck by a missile.
What did Iran say about the loss of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on 10 January 2020? Its civil aviation chief rejected the suggestion that a missile had brought the aircraft down, and said he was certain it had not been hit. He continued to assert that the cause was mechanical failure.
The denial came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that the plane had been downed by an Iranian missile. The Boeing 737-800 had been flying from Tehran to Kyiv when it came down shortly after takeoff on 8 January 2020, killing all 176 people on board.
On 9 January 2020, Trudeau told a news conference that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions that the downing was an act of war. At the same news conference he condemned Iran's attack on U.S. bases in Iraq.
The positions stated by 10 January 2020 were therefore sharply opposed. Canada's prime minister was pointing to a missile, while Iranian aviation authorities insisted on a technical fault.
The Iranian position did not hold. The aircraft was later established to have been shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
