US officials: ‘Highly likely’ Iran shot down Ukrainian jetliner

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two United States officials said Thursday it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board.

The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing American troops amid a confrontation with Washington over the US drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general last week.

The officials, citing US intelligence, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.

They said they had no certain knowledge of Iranian intent.

But they said it could very well have been a mistake, and that the airliner was mistaken for a threat.

President Donald Trump suggested that he believes Iran was responsible and wouldn’t directly lay the blame on Iran, but dismissed Iran’s initial claim that it was a mechanical issue.

The US officials wouldn’t say what intelligence they have that points to an Iranian missile.

But they acknowledged the existence of satellites and other sensors in the region, as well as the likelihood of communications intercepts and other similar intelligence.

The Iranian report suggests that a sudden emergency struck the Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines late Tuesday, when it crashed, just minutes after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran.

Investigators from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization offered no immediate explanation for the disaster, however.

Iranian officials initially blamed a technical malfunction for the crash, something initially backed by Ukrainian officials before they said they wouldn’t speculate amid an ongoing investigation.

The Ukrainian International Airlines took off at 6:12 a.m. Wednesday, Tehran time, after nearly an hour’s delay at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport, the main airport for travellers in Iran.

It gained altitude heading west, reaching nearly 8,000 feet, according to both the report and flight-tracking data.

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