Trudeau urges caution after Ukrainian airliner downing near Tehran
A look back at the Canadian prime minister's remarks on the loss of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752.
What did Canada's leader say in the hours after a Ukrainian passenger jet fell near Tehran? On 9 January 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions that the downing of the plane was an act of war.
The aircraft was Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, a scheduled service from Tehran to Kyiv. The Boeing 737-800 was shot down shortly after takeoff on 8 January 2020, and all 176 people on board were killed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was later identified as responsible for the shooting down; that was not established at the time of Trudeau's remarks.
At the same news conference, Trudeau also condemned Iran's attack on U.S. bases in Iraq. His comments set out a measured public position on 9 January 2020: he avoided characterising the downing of the airliner in the terms of war while the circumstances were still being established.
