Two U.S. 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 U.S. troops amid a confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general last week. The officials, citing U.S. intelligence, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. They had no immediate information on intent.
President Donald Trump suggested that he believes Iran was responsible and wouldn’t directly lay the blame on Iran, but dismissed their claims that it was a mechanical issue — and denied any U.S. responsibility.
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Two U.S. 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 https://t.co/y6O0DprpMI
— POLITICO (@politico) January 9, 2020
I wondered if this was what happened. Not sure why any aircraft were flying at all that night from Tehran, but there we are. https://t.co/doew2X3XTS
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 9, 2020
This is Trump's usual coarse and stupid inability to feel even a molecule of empathy for anyone but himself. But while I blame Trump for pretty much everything, this wasn't his or America's fault. https://t.co/vsTMiB19ZB
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 9, 2020
A disastrous week for the regime. First, their top terrorist is liquidated. Then, despite appearing to go out of their way *not* to kill anyone in their official retaliation, they kill a bunch of civilians on the same night though trigger-happiness/incompetence. https://t.co/ddBvd9bzWQ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 9, 2020
This isn't what happened. The Iranians knew they were about to proceed with a complicated military operation. The airport shouldn't even have been open. This is not "caught in the middle" of anything, it's a screw up by the Iranians. https://t.co/nqKD5hGY9n
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 9, 2020
Nope. Nope. Nope.
Iran launched a missile strike against our own troops, and then blundered by shooting down a civilian airliner when it wasn't even under attack. That's the story. This is on Iran. https://t.co/VzjnJk2jR8
— David French (@DavidAFrench) January 9, 2020
"The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface to air missile," Trudeau said. "This may well have been unintentional."
The crash happened hours after Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at bases used by U.S. troops in Iraq https://t.co/aRlOKPkAu1 pic.twitter.com/EiVAPVgmn3
— POLITICO (@politico) January 9, 2020
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