TORONTO -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada has intelligence that indicates that the plane that crashed in Iran Wednesday morning, killing all 176 people aboard, was shot down by an Iranian missile 鈥� possibly by accident.
鈥淲e have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This may well have been unintentional,鈥� the prime minister said Thursday afternoon at a news conference.
Ukraine Airlines flight PS752 crashed near Tehran shortly after taking off. Sixty-three of its passengers had Canadian passports, and many others were living in Canada as permanent residents or on visas.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada that the agency has been invited by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau of the Islamic Republic of Iran to visit the crash site.
鈥淲e have accepted this invitation and we are making arrangements to travel to the site,鈥� the agency wrote in the statement. 鈥淭he TSB will be working with other groups and organizations already on site.鈥�
Trudeau described the missile as the 鈥減robable cause鈥� of the crash but declined to elaborate on what evidence Canadian officials possess that led them to believe a surface-to-air missile was to blame. U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that he also believes Iran was responsible for the plane going down.
Flanked by several senior government and defence officials, the prime minister said he had called for Iran to allow a full investigation into the crash.
鈥淭he families of the victims and all Canadians want answers. I want answers. That means closure, transparency, accountability and justice,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his government will not rest until we get that.鈥�
Speaking at a joint press conference later on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab echoed Trudeau鈥檚 call for an in-depth investigation into the crash.
鈥淭his new information reinforces the need to have a thorough investigation into this matter,鈥� Champagne said. 鈥淎s the prime minister said today, Canadians have questions and they deserve answers. I would add to that that the world has questions and that the world expects answers.鈥�
Before Trudeau met with reporters, Hasan Rezaeifa, the head of the Iranian investigation commission, denied that a missile had been involved in the crash. He told Iran's state-run IRNA news agency that "the topics of rocket, missile or anti-aircraft system is ruled out."
Trudeau said he had been in touch with several world leaders since the crash, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, whose government led the investigation into the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. He said he had also shared Canada鈥檚 intelligence with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Canada and Iran have not had formal diplomatic relations since 2012, when Canada labelled Iran a state sponsor of terrorism.
Champagne said he talked to his Iranian counterpart about the crash on Wednesday night to make 鈥渢he case that Canada had a legitimate case to access鈥� the country to provide consular services.
鈥淭he response by the Iranian government, or the Iranian foreign minister was open, was encouraging,鈥� Champagne said.
Champagne said Canada鈥檚 quick-reaction team needs to obtain a visa before entering Iran, but added he鈥檚 noticed accelerated action on the matter since his phone call with Iranian officials.
Trudeau said Thursday that Canada has pushed Iran to allow Canadian investigators to take part in the probe, and that Iran has shown an 鈥渙penness鈥� to doing so but has not officially assented. He said Canadian consular officials are being sent to Turkey with the hope they will be allowed into Iran to provide assistance.
When asked, the prime minister did not speculate on what Canada鈥檚 response would be if a missile strike is conclusively found to have caused the crash, saying he would wait for an investigation to happen before discussing any possible retaliation.
The plane鈥檚 black box, which could provide pivotal clues for investigators, remains in Iran. Trudeau said that Iran has agreed to grant Ukrainian investigators access to the box, but does not intend to let it out of the country.
In his second public speech since the crash, Trudeau said again that he is not prepared to rule out any possible cause of the crash and reiterated that his thoughts are with the families of those killed.
鈥淸Today鈥檚] news will undoubtedly come as a further shock to the families who are already grieving in the face of this unspeakable tragedy,鈥� he said.
In an interview on CTV's Power Play, the former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service said the government would have concluded that the plane had been shot down after scouring all possible pieces of evidence collected from media reports, government intelligence 鈥� from allies or otherwise 鈥� and embassies on the ground in Iran.
鈥淪atellite photography is pretty effective these days,鈥� said Richard Fadden. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine the number of satellites that must have overflown the crash site.鈥�
鈥淏y taking a look at a crash site, its dispersal, and how the metal looks, you can tell if there was a kinetic event within the aircraft or outside of the aircraft.鈥�
Fadden added the surface-to-air missile Trudeau referenced is often operated automatically.
鈥淢ost of them are governed by a series of algorithms which tell them when they can and can鈥檛 fire,鈥� he noted. 鈥淧resumably what happened was that intelligence fed into the missile control system was wrong. It didn鈥檛 acknowledge this was a civilian aircraft, and was fired.鈥�
CRASH IN IRAN 鈥榃ORST POSSIBLE鈥� LOCATION FOR CANADIAN INVOLVMENT
Paul Heinbecker, a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, told CTV News Channel that Canada鈥檚 dearth of diplomatic ties with Iran poses a serious problem when it comes to having a say in the investigation.
鈥淭he Iranians have accepted that we will send some consular officials and that will help, but this is about the worst possible consular situation you could imagine,鈥� he said.
Heinbacker said the crash should pressure the Canadian government to reopen ties with Iran, regardless of how officials feel about the country.
鈥淭he point isn鈥檛 that we are -- by setting up an embassy -- approving of the behavior of the country concerned,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he point really is that we鈥檙e looking after our own interests and absent people on the ground鈥� we鈥檙e not able to protect Canadian interests.鈥�
With files from The Canadian Press
