Two US officials said Thursday it is “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile brought down a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 onboard.
US President Donald Trump said the deadly crash of a Ukrainian plane could have been a mistake, adding that he had a terrible feeling about the downed airliner. “I have my suspicions,” Trump said. “It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake.”
“Somebody could have made a mistake,” Trump told reporters at the White House, adding that he had suspicions about the crash but giving no other details.
“Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s even a question,” Trump said, adding that “something very terrible happened.”
"It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood"
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 9, 2020
US President Donald Trump says he "has his suspicions" about what happened to the Ukrainian plane that crashed near Tehran, after US officials say Iran may have mistakenly shot it downhttps://t.co/MNwEcG5C10 pic.twitter.com/N6hKjLUK67
One US official said US satellites had detected the launch of two missiles shortly before the plane crashed, followed by evidence of an explosion. Two officials said Washington believed the downing of the plane was accidental.
Last night, I spoke to my Iranian counterpart. Here is the readout of our conversation. pic.twitter.com/CHN1nDBrYJ
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) January 9, 2020