War Iran-United States Military Crisis of 2020 - US Baghdad embassy under siege, rocket fire in US Baghdad green zone, Ukrainian Airlines flight 752 crash, and more!

January 10th:
Exclusive: Informants in Iraq, Syria helped U.S. kill Iran's Soleimani - sources (archive)(post)
Iraqi Shia cleric whose militia killed American troops says crisis is over following Iran strike and Trump speech (archive)(post)
Iraqi PM tells US to decide mechanism for troop withdrawal (archive)(post)
Mike Pence says Congress might 'compromise sources and methods' if fully briefed on the Soleimani strike (archive)(post)
Unidentified planes hit Iraqi militiamen in Syria, killing 8 (archive)(post)
Iraq: The Master Of Mayhem Meets A Missile (archive)(post)
Eliminating Qasem Soleimani was Donald Trump’s Middle East farewell letter (archive)(post)
Iran uses BULLDOZERS to clear debris from plane crash site while accusing US of ‘big lie’ that they shot it down (archive)(post)
Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis (post)

January 11th:
UKRAINIAN AIRCRAFT WAS BROUGHT DOWN IN IRAN DUE TO 'HUMAN ERROR' (archive)(post)
Iran minister says 'human error' caused by 'US adventurism' led to deadly crash of Ukrainian jetliner (archive)(post)
Ukrainian aircraft was brought down in Iran due to 'human error' (archive)(post)
Trump, at Ohio rally, says Democrats would have leaked Soleimani attack plans (archive)(post)
The Atlantic's David Frum blames Trump for downing of plane in Iran, deaths of 176 (archive)(post)
Associated Press changes ‘shockingly bad’ headline about Soleimani, Ukrainian plane crash after backlash (archive)(post)
GOP Rep. Doug Collins apologizes for saying Democrats are 'in love with terrorists' (archive)(post)
Iran demands West 'show findings' as new video reveals aircraft was struck before fiery crash (archive)(post)
Warren town hall interrupted by angry protester accusing her of ‘siding with terrorists’ (archive)(post)
Trump administration announces new sanctions on Iran (archive)(post)
Prepare For the Worst From Iran Cyber Attacks, As DHS Issues Warning: Experts (archive)(post)
Trump tells Fox News' Laura Ingraham 'four embassies' were targeted in imminent threat from Iran (archive)(post)
Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters as they demand Khamenei quit (archive)(post)
Trump warns Iran against ‘another massacre’ as protests flare over downed jet (archive)(post)

January 12th:
Trump tweet in Farsi 'the most liked Persian tweet' in history of Twitter (archive)(post)
Iraq warned to keep US troops or risk financial blow-WSJ (archive)(post)
Iran arrests UK ambassador in what Britain calls ‘flagrant violation of international law’ (archive)(post)

January 13th:
Trump authorized Soleimani's killing 7 months ago, with conditions (archive)(post)

edit: This is a WIP. All links are posted in the order they appear in the thread, not in chronological order of their publication.


---Original OP before the merge---
Iraqi supporters of Iran-backed militia attack US Embassy
https://apnews.com/75228a8a607a44863b57021ac33264dc (http://archive.vn/ljm9Y)

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the main building inside embassy. It was not clear what caused the fire at the reception area near the parking lot of the compound. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: “The message was delivered.”

The embassy attack followed deadly U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said it was in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it had blamed on the militia.

Dozens of protesters marched inside the compound after smashing the gate used by cars to enter the embassy. The protesters, many in militia uniform, stopped in a corridor after about 5 meters (16 feet), and were only about 200 meters away from the main building. Half a dozen U.S. soldiers were seen on the roof of the main building, their guns were pointed at the protesters.

Smoke from the tear gas rose in the area, and at least three of the protesters appeared to have difficulties breathing. It wasn’t immediately known whether the embassy staff had remained inside the main building.

The protesters hanged a poster on the wall: “America is an aggressor.”

Shouting “Down, Down USA,” the crowd tried to push inside the embassy grounds, hurling water and stones over its walls. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy’s security staff who remained behind the glass windows in the gates’ reception area. They sprayed graffiti on the wall and windows in red in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia: “Closed in the name of the resistance.”

Hundreds of angry protesters, some in militia uniforms, set up tents outside the embassy. As tempers rose, the mob set fire to three trailers used by security guards along the embassy wall.

No one was immediately reported hurt in the rampage and security staff had withdrawn to inside the embassy earlier, soon after protesters gathered outside.

The U.S. attack — the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia in recent years — and the subsequent calls by the militia for retaliation, represent a new escalation in the proxy war between the U.S. and Iran playing out in the Middle East.

Tuesday’s attempted embassy storming took place after mourners and supporters held funerals for the militia fighters killed in a Baghdad neighborhood, after which they marched on to the heavily fortified Green Zone and kept walking till they reached the sprawling U.S. Embassy there.

AP journalists then saw the crowd as they tried to scale the walls of the embassy, in what appeared to be an attempt to storm it, shouting “Down, down USA!” and “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday’s strikes send the message that the U.S. will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.

The Iranian-backed Iraqi militia had vowed Monday to retaliate for the U.S. military strikes. The attack and vows for revenge raised concerns of new attacks that could threaten American interests in the region.

The U.S. attack also outraged both the militias and the Iraqi government, which said it will reconsider its relationship with the U.S.-led coalition — the first time it has said it will do so since an agreement was struck to keep some U.S. troops in the country. It called the attack a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

In a partly televised meeting Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi told Cabinet members that he had tried to stop the U.S. operation “but there was insistence” from American officials.

The U.S. military said “precision defensive strikes” were conducted against five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq and Syria. The group, which is a separate force from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, operates under the umbrella of the state-sanctioned militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Many of them are supported by Iran.









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He’s an old man that’s probably been up most of the night, he’s out of shape, and came power-walking into the speech from across the lot because he did last minute changes and was late.
Also he sucks at teleprompter and needs glasses.
Off teleprompter Trump is quick and sure.
On teleprompter Trump has always been like this even during the campaigne.
 

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Also major update being black boxes of the jet have officially been recovered from the crash site.
Well we knew a few pages ago that they found the boxes. The question is will they actually hand them over to an independent organization.
 
Either way, I just want to remind everyone this is just speculation. I'm not a paid expert on this matter, I don't have any first hand experience on Iran, and am strictly relying on my own personal experience in the situations. My confidence is getting boosted quite a bit because there's not a ton of disagreement on these issues within my circle of aircraft/military friends. We just can't scientifically explain some of the damage on that aircraft without blaming some sort of foreign objects entering the aircraft from numerous angles. We could very well be blowing smoke.

Largely the same here. Obviously, it's hard to gauge from the photos; nothing I've seen seems entirely consistent with the systems I'm familiar with. This has caused a lot of speculation at the office.
 
The WW3 fearmongering got grating incredibly fast this time, and that's saying something. You would think after seeing this song and dance several times before people would realize that nothing as severe as WW3 is going to spawn from this.
My classes today were beleaguered with kids fearing WWIII and the "possibility of getting drafted" (we all know that draft hasn't been instituted for years) to the point where students spent time talking with a prof. who was also fearful of WWIII saying they fear Tramp's rhetoric and thinking that we will somehow all die in a war with Iran. Meanwhile, I just sat down and shut up. At this point, if you haven't caught the media's fear-mongering tactics to militaristic situations with their black and white reasoning, why even bother to try to argue to change their perspectives?
 
I thought it was good that he stressed the point that we don't need ME oil. Most people don't have a clue about our current oil situation.

If there was a "strongly agree" rating you'd have gotten one from me.

It seems like 15 year old "muh oil" memes constitute the entirety of the general publics understanding of global politics and economics.
 
Well we knew a few pages ago that they found the boxes. The question is will they actually hand them over to an independent organization.
Probably not. Especially if it shows the plane hadn't no issues which would make it 100% likely it was shot down. I do know a pan am flight that crashed in east Germany and the soviets never handed the black boxes over.

Also a Australian has Been detained by Iran in recent days.
 
Also a Australian has Been detained by Iran in recent days.
Herald Sun is paywalled. Which person? We've had a woman detained there a few months. There was another couple detained a few months back, I think they were released though. (Lol, they are drone using YouTubers who thought it would be great to fly it in Tehran.)
 
Herald Sun is paywalled. Which person? We've had a woman detained there a few months. There was another couple detained a few months back, I think they were released though. (Lol, they are drone using YouTubers who thought it would be great to fly it in Tehran.)
Supposedly Australian scholar (a woman as well) was detained and is bowman facing torture after posting online about her experience in prison. Just search up "scholar detained in Iran" and see the most recent results.
 
A summary of today's events

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President Trump declared Wednesday that Iran “appears to be standing down,” in the wake of missile strikes on American bases in Iraq that he said resulted in “no casualties.”

“The American people should be extremely grateful and happy,” Trump said, in an address to the nation from the White House the morning after the attacks. “No Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.”

While the attacks marked the latest escalation with Tehran in the precarious aftermath of a U.S. drone strike that killed the top Iranian general, they appeared to open the door to reducing tensions after it became clear that no American forces were killed. Trump indicated Wednesday that he indeed considers the nature of the strikes as a sign that Tehran has taken an off-ramp.

“Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned,” he said.

He added: “No American or Iraqi lives were lost.”

At the same time, he said the U.S. continues to evaluate options. Trump said he would immediately impose economic sanctions "until Iran changes its behavior," called on other world powers to break away from the Iran nuclear deal and called on NATO to become more involved in the Middle East.

The president's statement, while stressing American military might and marking new sanctions, nevertheless represents a move toward de-escalation after days of fiery threats from both sides that included vows of retribution from Tehran and warnings from Trump -- later clarified -- that even Iranian cultural sites could be targeted in response. It was the latest in a series of world-altering developments that began with an Iran-linked strike that killed an American contractor, escalated with an American retaliatory strike and went into uncharted territory when militia supporters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad -- ultimately leading to the stunning strike against Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Global fears of a new war in the Middle East had built in recent days, as Washington was gripped by new partisan fights -- this time, over the Soleimani strike.

Trump continued to stand by that decision Wednesday, saying: "Soleimani's hands were drenched in both American and Iranian blood."

While all sides appeared to be pulling back from the brink of a greater military confrontation for now, Trump again pressed to block Iran's nuclear path. "As long as I am president of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon," he vowed.

"Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism," Trump said, calling on the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China to "recognize this reality" and "break away from the remnants" of the Obama-era nuclear pact. He claimed that the "very defective" deal "gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout."

The president touted the military under his administration but added: "The fact that we have this great military and equipment, however, does not mean we need to use it. ... We do not want to use it."

Trump said: "The U.S. is ready to embrace peace with all who seek it."

The president’s address comes after Iran fired as many as 15 ballistic missiles into Iraq. Ten missiles hit the Ain al-Asad Air Base, which houses U.S. troops, one missile hit a U.S. military base in Erbil, and four missiles failed to hit their targets, according to a U.S. military spokesman for Central Command, responsible for American forces in the Middle East.

The late Tuesday attacks unfolded in two waves, about an hour apart.

While no U.S. or other NATO casualties were reported, the bases were potentially vulnerable.

U.S. defense officials told Fox News the U.S. military did not attempt to shoot down the ballistic missiles fired from Iran because there were no American military assets in place to intercept them. The Patriot and Avenger anti-missile defense systems are deployed to other locations in the Middle East, but not to the two Iraqi bases targeted by Iran. Officials say the American assets are in high demand and short supply around the world.

“For the past few years, our focus was defeating ISIS and keeping a light footprint in Iraq. We did not need air defense systems against ISIS,” one official said, explaining why there were no U.S. missile defense systems in place at the Iraqi bases.

Iran’s foreign minister said the targets in Iraq were chosen because that is where U.S. Special Operations forces launched the drone strike to kill Soleimani.

But the U.S. was prepared. U.S. military officials were warned about Iran’s pending ballistic missile strike “when the air defense systems went active,” shortly before the attack was launched, a U.S. official in Baghdad told Fox News on Wednesday.

Just after the missile strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned the U.S. and regional allies against retaliating for the attack.

“We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted,” IRGC warned in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, while also threatening Israel.

Pentagon officials told Fox News that Iran had more than 2,000 ballistic missiles — a figure determined in the latest U.S. intelligence assessment.

The attack late Tuesday came just days after a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Soleimani. The U.S. blamed Soleimani for the killing of hundreds of American troops, and said he was plotting new attacks just before his death.

Iranian officials and Trump have traded threats since Soleimani's death, and more U.S. troops have been deployed to the region amid heightened tensions.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have threatened revenge on American interests and personnel for the killings.

On Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers approved a resolution to expel U.S. forces from the country. U.S. troops were deployed to Iraq five years ago at the request of the Iraqi government, after the Islamic State overtook vast swaths of the country.

After the attack on U.S. bases Tuesday night, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that ballistic missile attacks targeting U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq Wednesday morning were "a slap in the face" to the United States.

Khamenei said the U.S. should leave the region, adding, “Military action like this is not sufficient. What is important is ending the corrupting presence of America in the region,” Reuters reported.

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President Trump took direct aim at former President Barack Obama on Wednesday, blaming the last administration for giving Iran money that he claimed was then used by Tehran to pay for missiles that were aimed at U.S. troops in Iraq.

“The missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration,” Trump said from the White House, referring to settlement money the U.S. paid to Iran in 2016.

Trump addressed the nation the morning after the Iranian regime launched more than a dozen missiles at bases in Iraq that housed U.S. troops. That was in retaliation for the U.S. strike last week that took out top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

In his remarks, he pointed the finger at the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) from which the U.S. withdrew in 2018. While supporters of the deal claimed it kept Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, Trump on Wednesday renewed his assertion that it emboldened Tehran.

“Iran's hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013, and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash,” he said. “Instead of saying thank you to the United States, they chanted 'Death to America.'”

He went on to say that Iran went on a “terrorist spree” with that money “and created hell in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq.” It was with that money that the missiles fired late Tuesday were funded, he claimed.

Trump has been a constant critic of the Iran deal since, and has focused in particular on the money that was unfrozen or sent to Iran directly.

It’s unclear exactly how the missiles used in the attacks were funded. But other Republicans have connected the Iran settlement money to the attacks, with GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz saying on Fox News' "Hannity" on Tuesday night, “In a very real sense, the missiles that we saw fired at U.S. servicemen and women tonight were paid for by the billions that the Obama administration flooded the Ayatollah with."

The cash payment of $1.7 billion, a settlement of a decades-old dispute between the U.S. and Iran -- was paid in cash, with a planeload of $400 million delivered to Tehran on Jan. 17 2016, the same day Iran agreed to release four American prisoners. A remaining $1.3 billion was reportedly paid out within weeks of that first payment.

The $150 billion, meanwhile, refers to the estimated value of Iranian assets that had been frozen abroad in financial institutions as part of international sanctions. That money was unfrozen by all countries as part of the Iran deal. Some fact checkers have disputed that the value is as high as $150 billion, citing Treasury estimates that it could be around $55 billion in liquid assets.

Former Obama Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes responded to Trump's speech on Twitter, accusing the president of "lying relentlessly."

"Iran didn’t fire a single rocket at U.S. interests in Iraq during the Iran Deal," he said. "Just look at what Iran has done since Trump pulled out of that Deal. Trump is lying relentlessly and he has made things much more dangerous."

Since leaving the Iran deal, the Trump administration has reimposed waves of sanctions on Tehran, while the Iranian regime has violated the agreement’s restrictions on stockpiled uranium.

On Wednesday, Trump called for other countries to break away from the deal and secure a new one, arguing that the current deal begins to expire soon and “gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout.”

“The time has come for the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia and China to recognize this reality,” he said. “They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal or JCPOA. And we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.”

Some U.S. allies have acknowledged the deal’s current problems, but while still remaining publicly committed to the deal. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, earlier Wednesday, said that the deal “remains the best way of preventing nuclear proliferation in Iran, the best way of encouraging the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon.”

“It’s a shell that has currently been voided, but it remains a shell into which we can put substance again,” he told British lawmakers.
 
Milley says Iran launched ballistic missiles intending to kill
The Pentagon’s top military adviser believes that when Iran launched missiles at two Iraqi coalition bases on Tuesday night, they were looking for casualties.

Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon that it’s his assessment Iran missed its intended targets at the Al Asad and Erbil air bases, contradicting reports that the victimless strike was meant to make a point but offer Iran a chance to deescalate tensions.

“Bottom line is, in my professional assessment, at Al Asad ... the points of impact were close enough to personnel and equipment and so on and so forth ― I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and aircraft, and to kill personnel,” he said.

Milley added that it was his own personnel assessment, and that intelligence analysts are doing their own investigation now.

Iran launched 16 rockets at Al Asad and Erbil, 11 of which hit Al Asad, while one landed outside of Erbil and four failed in flight, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters.


An American helicopter was damaged in the strike, a U.S. defense official confirmed to Military Times. The rest was structural, Esper said, including taxiways, tents and a parking lot.

Esper added that while he shares Milley’s initial assessment, he will wait on the analysis to make a true determination.

“All I can tell you is, factually, they landed at certain points in a populated camp and they did certain amounts of damage, and there were no casualties,” Milley said. “Why there were no casualties? In my estimation, from what I know now, I think it has more to do with the defensive techniques that our forces used as opposed to intent.”

And if Iran intended to kill coalition forces and missed the mark, does that mean they have unfinished business?

“I think it’s perhaps too early to tell,” Milley said.

The chairman’s comments contradicted reports of administration officials who believe that Iran planned to cause only structural damage in its retaliation for the drone strike that killed a top military leader, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, at the Baghdad airport on Thursday.


In an address Wednesday, President Trump declared that Iran is standing down after Tuesday’s attack. Also on Wednesday, Muqtada al-Sadr, a notorious Shia cleric and Iraqi politician, issued a message declaring the Iran crisis over.

However, the situation is fluid. Shortly before Esper spoke with reporters, the Iraqi security forces issued a Tweet saying two Katyusha rockets landed inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, with no casualties.

سقوط صاروخين نوع كاتيوشا، " داخل المنطقة الخضراء دون وقوع خسائر بشرية" ، وسنوافيكم التفاصيل لاحقاً.
— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) January 8, 2020
Despite the apparent detente, Esper said that there are no immediate plans to bring 5,000 soldiers deployed to the Middle East last week as part of the Global Response Force plan.

“We’re still in a tense period, if you will. Troops will remain or continue to be re-positioned based on threats," he said. "While we want to give them some predictability, it’s too hard to say how long this will last at this point in time.

-End of Article-​
As I have previously mentioned, I do not believe that Iran did not mean to kill US soldiers.

The Iranian FM supposedly told the Iraqi FM that the strike was going to happen, but I cannot find a source (other than CNN), saying that the US got a tip off from either Iraq or Iran.

I have heard a lot of reports that it was the USA's ballistic missile launch detection system did work. It was buried in a lot of reports, like this one and this one.

The United states has one of the most technologically capable early warning systems ever developed.

The keystone is the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). It is a very sensitive satellite system designed to detect and track missile launches.

 
supposedly the airliner crash was an "uncontained engine failure"
Boeing jet crashes in Iran with no survivors, security sources see technical cause
KIEV/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Ukrainian airliner fell to earth in a fireball shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board in a crash that sparked an international scramble to establish the cause.

The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800, en route to Kiev and carrying mostly Iranians and Iranian-Canadians, crashed hours after Iran fired missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, leading some to speculate that the plane may have been hit.

But five security sources - three Americans, one European and one Canadian - who asked not to be named, told Reuters the initial assessment of Western intelligence agencies was that the plane had suffered a technical malfunction and had not been brought down by a missile. There was evidence one of the jet’s engines had overheated, the Canadian source said.

The probe comes after Boeing Co (BA.N) grounded its 737 MAX fleet after two crashes in 2018 and 2019. The 737-800 is one of the world’s most-flown models with a good safety record and does not have the software feature implicated in crashes of the 737 MAX.

“We are in contact with our airline customers and stand by them in this difficult time. We are ready to assist in any way needed,” the manufacturer said in a statement earlier on Wednesday. It declined further comment. Its shares fell 1.1% on Wednesday.

In Paris on Wednesday morning, the maker of the plane’s engines, French-U.S. firm CFM - co-owned by General Electric Co (GE.N) and France’s Safran (SAF.PA) - said speculation regarding the cause was premature.


Smoldering parts and debris, including shoes and clothes, were strewn across a field southwest of the Iranian capital, where rescue workers in face masks laid out scores of body bags.

Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, and 11 Ukrainians, Ukrainian authorities said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon that 138 of the passengers were connecting to a flight to Canada.

The Tehran-Toronto via Kiev route was a popular one for Canadians of Iranian descent visiting Iran, in the absence of direct flights, and carried many students and academics heading home from the holidays.

The victims included a newlywed couple who had gone to Iran to get married. Arash Pourzarabi, 26, and Pouneh Gourji, 25, were graduate students in computer science at the University of Alberta. Four members of their wedding party were also on board.

At Kiev’s main airport, candles and flowers were laid next to pictures of the deceased Ukrainian crew members.

It was Kiev-based Ukraine International Airlines’ first fatal crash, and the carrier said it was doing everything possible to find the cause.

Ukraine said it was sending a team of experts to Iran to investigate. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had instructed Ukraine’s prosecutor general to open criminal proceedings, without specifying who they would involve.

Under international rules, responsibility for investigating the crash lies with Iran, and Trudeau said the foreign minister of Canada would talk to his Iranian counterpart to underline the need for a “thorough investigation.” It was “dangerous to speculate” on the possible causes so early in the investigation, he added.


U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was calling for complete cooperation with any investigation. The United States - where the plane was designed and built - has the right to be accredited to the probe.

But the crash looks set to strain fragile international protocols on cooperation in air disaster investigations at a time when the United States and Iran are mired in confrontation.

Iranian state television said both of the plane’s “black box” cockpit voice and flight data recorders had been found.

The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted the head of Iran’s civil aviation organization as saying it was not clear which country Iran would send the black boxes to for analysis of the data, but it would not share them with Boeing.

U.S. aircraft surveillance firm Aireon has collected the position data from the crashed jet and is sharing it with the appropriate authorities, a spokeswoman said. [L4N29E06P]

AMATEUR VIDEO
The plane that crashed was a three-year-old Boeing 737-800NG. Its last scheduled maintenance was on Jan. 6, Ukraine International Airlines said.

An amateur video, run by Iranian news agencies and purportedly of the crashing plane, showed a descending flash in a dark sky. It was accompanied by comments that the aircraft was “on fire” and then a brighter flash as it appears to hit the ground. Reuters could not authenticate the footage.


Early on Wednesday, Iran had fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike last week that killed an Iranian military commander.

Some airlines canceled Iran and Iraq flights and re-routed others away from both countries’ airspace following the missile strikes. The European Aviation Safety Agency recommended that commercial flights avoid Iraqi airspace.

Iranian TV blamed the crash on unspecified technical problems, and Iranian media quoted a local aviation official as saying the pilot did not declare an emergency.

Safety experts say airliner accidents rarely have a single cause and that it typically takes months of investigation to understand all the factors behind them.

Modern aircraft are designed and certified to cope with an engine failure shortly after take-off and to fly for extended periods on one engine. But an uncontained engine failure releasing shrapnel can cause damage to other aircraft systems.

Reporting by Matthias Williams in Kiev, Mark Hosenball in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Babak Dehghanpinesh in Dubai, David Shepardson in Las Vegas, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Writing by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Gerry Doyle

-End of Article-​
Make of that what you will​
 
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