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Flight 752: Iran rejects missile theory as evidence mounts
Summary
A look back at 10 January 2020, when Tehran denied that a missile had brought down the Kyiv-bound airliner despite Western claims and video evidence.
What did the world know about the loss of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on 10 January 2020, two days after the crash? Enough for several governments to point to a missile, yet Iran was still insisting on a different cause.
A denial after a public suggestion
The Boeing 737-800 had been flying from Tehran to Kyiv when it came down on 8 January 2020, killing all 176 people on board. On 10 January, after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the aircraft had been downed by an Iranian missile, Iranian authorities rejected the idea. The Iranian civil aviation chief said he was certain the plane had not been hit by a missile and continued to attribute the crash to mechanical failure.
The case that had built up by 9 January
The denial came against a growing body of claims made the day before. On 9 January, U.S., Canadian, British and Iraqi officials said they believed the crash near Tehran was likely caused accidentally by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile. Iran, for its part, maintained that mechanical failure was to blame.
The same day, The New York Times released a verified video obtained from an Iranian citizen. It showed the plane being struck by what appeared to be a surface-to-air missile.
Caution in Ottawa
The Canadian position was measured. At a news conference on 9 January, Trudeau said it was too early to draw definitive conclusions that the downing was an act of war. He also condemned Iran's attack on U.S. bases in Iraq, placing the airliner's loss within a wider confrontation that was already under way.
What the exchange showed
By 10 January, then, two accounts stood against each other. Several governments pointed to an accidental missile strike, supported by video footage. Iran's aviation chief offered a technical explanation and dismissed the alternative outright.
The background to the episode shows how that dispute was later settled in substance. The flight was, in fact, shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shortly after takeoff. That was not established on 10 January, when Tehran's public line still held that no missile had been involved.
