Trudeau Says Intel Indicates Iran Likely Shot Down Ukrainian Plane

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to a question during a news conference January 8, 2020 in Ottawa, Canada. (Photo by Dave Chan / AFP) (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that preliminary intelligence indicated Iran shot down a Ukrainian jet carrying 176 people, including dozens of Iranians and Canadians.

“We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence,” Trudeau said in a press conference. “The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional.”

That matched reports of what unnamed U.S. officials have said about the crash — that Iranian missiles brought down the plane, possibly the result of a mistake by Iranian operators.

Trudeau hedged multiple times that he was conveying “preliminary conclusions” based on available intelligence and evidence.

Several reporters asked the prime minister if the United States bore any responsibility for the tragedy.

The crash came just hours after Iran struck two American bases in Iraq Tuesday night with several missiles — there were no casualties — which Iran said was a response to America’s killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani on Friday. After Tuesday’s strike, Iran was braced for a potential American response.

One reporter said Wednesday’s crash seemed to be “the end result of a sequence of events that was sparked by the drone strike ordered by the U.S. president.”

“The evidence suggests that this is the likely cause,” Trudeau said, though he later hedged in response to a similar question that it was “too soon to be drawing conclusions or assigning blame or responsibility.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Is the beard new?

    Oh, and in other news - I’m glad it was the Canadians and not the US who said it. I have a feeling the Canadians have a better reputation for telling the truth these days.

  2. It may have been mistaken, but it certainly wasn’t unintentional. Those missiles did not lock onto the plane and fire all by themselves.

  3. Puts Trump’s “All is well!” in the dumpster where it belongs.

  4. Root cause : Proximate cause. Plenty of blame to go around here.

    “One reporter said Wednesday’s crash seemed to be “the end result of a sequence of events that was sparked by the drone strike ordered by the U.S. president.”

    I can’t vote against the Ayatollahs, but I can sure as hell vote against Trump and every Republican on the ticket.

  5. More civilian casualties of war. We were at war, right? The blame is on those who started the war.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

21 more replies

Participants

Avatar for discobot Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for brutus1910 Avatar for inversion Avatar for clearwater Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for lastroth Avatar for ignoreland Avatar for esva Avatar for quax Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for rickjones Avatar for nycabj Avatar for spacesaver Avatar for bcgister Avatar for pinkie Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for txlawyer Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for rockitttla

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: