The missile strikes were Iran’s retaliation against the U.S. for the drone attack on Jan. 3 that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. American authorities later reported there were no casualties from the Iranian attack on the air bases.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pledged to discover the “truth” behind the crash, and announced investigators from his country had arrived in Iran to assist in the probe.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Iran originally said that the crash was likely caused by an engine problem. It also ruled out terrorism or a rocket attack as possible causes. However, it later removed that information from its website and said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
Eyewitnesses to the crash, including the crew of another passing flight, described seeing the plane engulfed in flames before it went down, the Iranian report said.
The crash just before dawn caused a massive explosion, likely because the aircraft had been fully loaded with fuel for the flight to Kyiv, Ukraine, and scattered flaming debris and passengers’ belongings across a wide stretch of farmland.
Both of the so-called black boxes containing data and cockpit communications from the plane were recovered, though they were damaged, the report said.
Zelenskiy also said he planned to call Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about the crash and the investigation.
“Undoubtedly, the priority for Ukraine is to identify the causes of the plane crash,” he said. “We will surely find out the truth.”
Zelenskiy said the crash will be investigated by a committee created by Iran’s civil aviation agency. He also cautioned against speculation and conspiracy theories while the investigation is ongoing.
“I call on the international community, including Canada, to join the investigation,” he added.
Even though Ottawa has no diplomatic ties to Tehran, Trudeau demanded that Canadian investigators be part of the investigation.
“We have already been engaged with the Ukrainians who are part of the investigation team,” the prime minister said. “And Iran has indicated an openness to Canada being engaged as well. To which degree and in what way remains to be worked out. But there is an openness there.”
Ukrainian officials, for their part, initially agreed with Iranian suspicions that the 3½-year-old plane was brought down by mechanical trouble, but later backed away from that and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing.
A top Ukrainian security official said in a Facebook post Thursday that four main scenarios of what could have happened are being looked into, including an anti-aircraft missile strike, a collision with a UAV or unmanned aerial vehicle, an engine failure and an explosion inside the aircraft as the result of a terrorist act.
Thursday was declared a national day of mourning in Ukraine.
The disaster could further damage Boeing’s reputation, which has been battered by the furor over two deadly crashes involving a different Boeing model, the much-newer 737 Max, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months.
Boeing extended condolences to the victims’ families and said it stands ready to assist.
Senior U.S. investigative sources said Wednesday that Boeing and U.S. government investigators likely won’t be able to investigate the crash.
David K. Li contributed.