Trudeau says Canada should take part in probe to ensure ‘proper’ investigation of Ukrainian jet crash in Tehran

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a “proper” investigation into the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran’s capital, noting that the bulk of the plane’s passengers were en route to Canada.

Trudeau said Canada’s foreign minister would speak with his Iranian counterpart to discuss the need for a probe, but added it would be “dangerous” to speculate about the cause of the crash at this early stage. Nonetheless, he said he expected Canada would have a role in any investigation into the incident.

The PM also noted that he had spoken to US President Donald Trump about the incident earlier on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian flight – a Boeing 737-800 – went down over Tehran on Tuesday night after an apparent technical failure, with Iranian officials stating the plane’s engine caught fire before it crashed. All 167 passengers, as well as 9 crew members, were killed.

Insisting on carrying out its own independent probe, Tehran earlier refused to hand the plane’s black box to Boeing, but said Ukrainian officials will be allowed to be “present during investigations.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a team of experts would be dispatched to Iran to help determine the cause of the crash and to “establish the truth and those responsible for this terrible catastrophe.” While Kiev revoked its initial statement pinning the crash on an equipment malfunction without explanation, Zelensky has also urged the public to refrain from speculating about what happened.

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