Questions asked over what happened to the passenger jet that was downed in Iran

President Donald Trump has been on his feet in the White House and has said that he had a feeling something “very terrible” happened and “somebody could have made a mistake”. In addition to this Ukraine’s top security official has said that the passenger airliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board, may have been downed by Iran and that it was likely to be Russian made. 

A team of 45 Ukrainian experts has arrived in the Iranian capital to examine why the Ukrainian International Airlines plane plunged from the sky minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport.  Oleksiy Danilov who is the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council has told journalists that one of the possibilities is whether “the plane was hit by an air defense missile, including a [Russian-made] Tor cruise missile,” For many years Moscow has for supplied Tehran with sophisticated weaponry, and Iran tested the Tor M1 missiles in 2007.

The fact that the downed passenger plane was only 4 years old and that the crew did not radio for assistance is also adding to the speculation.  The Ukrainian team “intends to look for the debris of a Russian Tor air defense missile,” Mr Danilov has said. Some are suspicious that the plane crashed just hours after Iran launched missiles at US military facilities in neighbouring Iraq. However, Iran has stated that any talk of a missile striking the plane is merely “illogical rumours”. 

Many in the international community are asking for the black box to be made available for inspection. Iran has yet to do this and is stating that it is severely damaged. Iran is still saying that the plane caught fire and was trying to turn back.

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