Iran's 'reckless acts' caused Flight 752 crash

The summary of a forensic report from the Canadian government says a "series of reckless acts and omissions" by Iranian authorities resulted in the fatal downing of a passenger jet in January 2020.

The official document from the Prime Minister's Office says Iran showed a "blatant disregard" for air safety by failing to provide any information to airlines about its military activities when it launched a missile strike against a pair of U.S. bases across the border in Iraq hours before the plane was shot down.

The families and loved ones of the victims of Flight PS752 deserve answers - and we will take every measure necessary to make sure justice is served. Today’s report confirms that Iranian civilian and military authorities are fully responsible for the downing of Flight PS752.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 24, 2021

The summary, which draws on a forensic investigation led by a former deputy director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, says a surface-to-air missile operator likely misidentified the passenger plane as a "hostile target."

An earlier report from Iran's civil aviation authority blamed "human error" as the reason why the Iranian military shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 minutes after takeoff from the Tehran airport en route to Kyiv.

All 176 people on board the Ukraine International Airlines jetliner were killed, including 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents and dozens of others bound for Canada.

The report relies partly on intelligence as well as the Iranian aviation authority study, and comes after Iran blocked Canadian and Ukrainian investigators from a complete on-site analysis.