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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday the downing of a Ukrainian plane in Tehran “does not suggest an intentional act.”
His comments come after multiple US officials have said the US increasingly believes that Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner on Wednesday.
“Australia has received similar intelligence to that which has been spoken to by both the Prime Minister of Canada and from the United States,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
“It is just a terrible, terrible event and we’ll provide whatever support we can.”
The Australian Prime Minister also called for a probe into the disaster, saying “it is absolutely critical that full and transparent investigation is undertaken into this terrible event and that would include undertaking all efforts to ensure we get recovery of the black box recorder that can obviously inform that investigation.”
Australia’s flag carrier, Qantas, said earlier this week it is “adjusting its flight paths over the Middle East to avoid the airspace over Iraq and Iran until further notice.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined to blame Iran for the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner this week, saying tonight, “we’ll see what actually transpired.”
“If it, in fact, proves after the investigation is complete what it is I think many surmise at this point, that in fact, it was the Iranians who fired a missile and took down this aircraft, it will have been Iranians that killed Iranians inside of Iran, an enormous tragedy,” Pompeo said on “The Ben Shapiro Show.”
Pompeo added: “But no matter what the situation is, to suggest somehow that actions that America took to protect itself, to defend America and to take down a terrorist in Baghdad, had any implications or any connection to what the Iranians ultimately chose to do is farcical, fanciful, and clearly political.”
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will participate in the investigation into the Ukrainian Airlines flight that crashed in Iran, killing 176 people, according to a statement.
The statement said the agency “will not speculate about the cause of the crash” and that Iranian authorities, which notified the NTSB of the crash, will be the lead agency.
The NTSB has designated one of its investigators, known as an “accredited representative,” to assist.
The Iranian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has invited the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) to go to the Ukrainian airliner crash site in Tehran, according to a release from TSB.
The TSB has accepted the invitation and is making arrangements to travel to the site, where the board will work with other groups and organizations already on site, the release said.
“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) again extends its condolences to the families and loved ones of the people who perished in the tragic crash,” the release added.
Iran’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson Abbas Mousavi tweeted that the investigation into the cause behind the crash of Ukrainian Airlines flight has officially launched based on international guidelines set forth by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Mousavi added that representatives from Ukraine and aircraft manufacturer Boeing have been invited to take part in the investigation.
He ended the tweet by saying, “We appreciate any country who can provide information to the committee in charge.”
Iranian aviation authorities have invited the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to join the investigation into the Ukrainian Airlines plane that crashed in Iran, killing 176 people on board, according to a US official.
What we know about the crash: The US increasingly believes Iran mistakenly shot down the airliner, according to multiple US officials.
Allowing US investigators to participate in the inquiry is significant and allows Boeing to participate. But it sets up a thorny situation because some sanctions would need to be waived to allow the US side to participate.
The plane involved is a Boeing 737-800. The company and the NTSB did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa canceled flights to Tehran today, the airlines said.
Lufthansa flight LH 600, which was on its way from Frankfurt to Tehran, will return to Frankfurt, the German airline said in a statement.
Both airlines in separate statements said the decisions were made due to “the latest reports and a changed assessment of the security situation for the airspace around Tehran airport.”
Both Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa have suspended flights to Tehran for Friday and said they “continue to evaluate the situation on site with national and international authorities.”
This development comes after multiple American officials said the US increasingly believes that Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner on Wednesday.
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi expressed condolences for the families of the plane crash victims.
In comments to the UN Security Council this afternoon, he said:
Video sent to CNN appears to show a missile fired into the Tehran sky early Wednesday morning and striking an object in the sky. Around that time, a Ukranian airliner crashed shortly after takeoff.
CNN cannot verify the authenticity of the video, but the buildings seen in it appears similar to ones that are in the Iranian capitol suburb of Parand. The Ukrainian plane crashed just north of the suburb.
The video, obtained by Nariman Gharib who then sent it to CNN and the New York Times, shows a light in the sky, moving left to right and then exploding.
CNN has asked Gharib for more information of who took the video and how he obtained it, but has not yet received a response.
The US increasingly believes that Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner on Tuesday, according to multiple US officials. The working theory is based on continuing analysis of data from satellites, radar and electronic data collected routinely by US military and intelligence.
The flight was downed following Iranian strikes on US forces in Iraq.
The Ukrainian Jetliner that crashed Wednesday was shot down by two Russian made surface to air missiles (SA-15), according to a US official familiar with the intelligence. The US saw Iranian radar signals lock onto the jetliner, before it being shot down.
There’s now a “body of information” that the Ukrainian airliner, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Tehran, was shot down by an Iranian missile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement today:
“There is now a body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian Surface to Air Missile. This may well have been unintentional. We are working closely with Canada and our international partners and there now needs to be a full, transparent investigation.”
Four British nationals were on board the flight, the statement said, and it is now “vital that there should be an immediate and respectful repatriation of those who’ve lost their lives to allow their families to grieve properly.”
“The UK continues to call on all sides urgently to deescalate to reduce tensions in the region.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences over the deaths of Canadian citizens in the airliner crash in a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“This is a terrible tragedy and our shared pain,” Zelensky said in a statement released today.
Zelensky added that Ukraine is “interested in a transparent and objective investigation of the tragedy and finding the truth.”
About the victims: Of the 176 victims on board, 63 were Canadian. The country’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 138 were going to fly on to Canada, and that their connecting flight had arrived in Toronto with many seats empty.
The head of the Iranian Investigating Committee of the Ukraine plane crash, Hassan Rezaeifar, said it has invited the United States “as the manufacturer of Boeing to be present” while the committee investigates the crash, according to the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
Fars reported that “Boeing has named a representative without confirming their participation.”
CNN is reaching out to Boeing to see if Iran has contacted them and for any response. Representatives of Boeing would likely need permission from the US to travel to Iran because of existing sanctions
The Ukrainian airliner crashed after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday local time, killing all 176 people on board, including dozens of Iranians and Canadians.
The Ukrainian plane that crashed Wednesday was shot down by two Russian-made surface to air missiles (SA-15), according to a US official familiar with the intelligence.
The US saw Iranian radar signals lock onto the jetliner, before it was shot down.
The morning after the incident, US analysts discovered the data but took another day to verify.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes a thorough investigation will produce answers to why the Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines jet crashed after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday.
“I am willing to talk to anyone to get answers,” Trudeau said in a televised address from Ottawa.
Of the 176 people killed, 63 were Canadian.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deflected when asked about the United States’ role in the Ukrainian airliner crash.
Asked how much responsibility the US bears for the crash given the tension in the region, here’s what Trudeau said:
“The evidence suggests that this is the likely cause, but we need to have a full and complete and credible investigation to establish exactly what happened. That is what we are calling for and that is what we’re expecting will happen.”
“It is too soon to be drawing conclusions,” Trudeau later said, adding that there needs to be a thorough investigation first.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadian officials have intelligence from their own sources and Canada’s allies that shows Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.
“This may have been unintentional,” Trudeau said today, adding that international partners should be involved in the investigation.
Trudeau added: “It is extremely important that there be a thorough and credible investigation.”
Iranian authorities have indicated that they want to keep the plane’s black boxes within the country, Trudeau said.
Watch Trudeau’s remarks:
Ukraine has called on its international partners to provide any evidence they might have that would shed light on the crash of the Ukrainian airliner, the Office of the President of Ukraine said in a statement on Thursday.
“Today the President of Ukraine has had telephone conversations with leaders of several countries, including the Prime Ministers of Canada and Sweden, the President of Iran. Our country is interested in finding the truth. Therefore, we turn to Ukraine’s international partners: if you have any evidence to assist the investigation, please provide it,” the statement said.
Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority head, Ali Abedzadeh, told CNN the country may need outside help to decode the black box on the Ukrainian airliner because it is damaged.
“Generally speaking, Iran has the potential and know-how to decode the black box. Everybody knows that,” he said.
However, Abedzadeh said, “the black box of this very Ukrainian Boeing 737 is damaged. Ukrainian Aviation experts arrived here in Tehran today. We had a session with them. From tomorrow they will start decoding the data.”
He added: “If the available equipment is not enough to get the content,” Iran will outsource the boxes to “the experts from France or Canada.”
“Then whatever is the result will be published and publicized to the world,” Abedzadeh said.
More on this: CNN’s aviation expert Richard Quest said the important point here is Iran will need the help of very experienced people to download the data if the boxes are damaged.
Quest said it is unlikely the boxes would be opened if damaged. If damaged, they would only be opened under the most exacting circumstances. Quest said data cannot be read until the boxes are opened, the data is downloaded and then analyzed. French or Canadian aviation officials would have the needed experience and equipment to do this.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. ET to discuss the plane crash.
More context: The Ukrainian International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752 came down just minutes after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday local time, killing all 176 people on board, including dozens of Iranians and Canadians. The Boeing 737-800 was headed for Kiev, where 138 passengers were expected to take a connecting flight to Canada.
European security officials said they believe that reports suggesting that the Ukrainian airliner was shot down by an Iranian surface to air missile in error are credible.
The head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority is questioning the US allegation that Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner that crashed shortly after takeoff in Tehran.
He said once the plane took off, it continued flying for five minutes. Abedzadeh said “the pilot tried to return to the airport but failed.”
Abedzadeh went on to ask, “How can a plane be hit by rocket or missile” and then the pilot “try to turn back to the airport?”
