Iran denied missile theory over Flight 752

What did the world know about the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on 10 January 2020, two days after it crashed near Tehran? Western governments had a working theory, and Iran was still rejecting it.

The flight was a scheduled service from Tehran to Kyiv, operated by Ukraine International Airlines. The Boeing 737-800 came down shortly after takeoff on 8 January 2020, and all 176 people on board were killed. Later, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was established as having shot the aircraft down, but that was not acknowledged on 10 January.

Iran holds to "mechanical failure"

On 10 January 2020, after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that an Iranian missile had downed the plane, Iranian authorities rejected the idea. The head of Iran's civil aviation authority said he was certain the aircraft had not been hit by a missile. He continued to assert that the cause was mechanical failure.

What had emerged the day before

On 9 January 2020, U.S., Canadian, British and Iraqi officials said they believed the crash was likely caused accidentally by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile. Iran, for its part, attributed it to mechanical failure.

That 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.

Also on 9 January 2020, Trudeau told a news conference that 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.

A gap between accounts

By the close of 10 January 2020, two accounts stood in direct conflict. Officials in several countries pointed to a probable accidental missile strike, supported by video published a day earlier. Iranian officials maintained that the aircraft had suffered a mechanical fault.