Missile suspected in Iran plane crash

The plane crash in Iran that killed 176 people aboard was likely brought down by a missile unintentionally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says, while Tehran has invited officials from the US, Ukraine, and Canada to join the investigation.

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“We 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,” the Canadian minister said.

"This may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau added, while also stressing the need for a "credible and complete investigation."

Additional reports said Canada and the UK believed one missile was fired, while US officials said two were used.

Foreign media also reported that the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday it would be joining the investigation into Wednesday’s Ukrainian Boeing airliner crash after it had “received formal notification" from Tehran.

A video obtained and verified by The New York Times appeared to offer “new clues about the crash” regarding what American and allied officials believed an Iranian missile had accidentally brought the plane down.

Previously, the state-run media in Tehran quoted Iranian officials saying the plane had suffered a mechanical failure and turned back, while it was already on fire before hitting the ground.

No distress call was issued by the pilots as the Ukrainian airliner was going down, local aviation officials said.

The crash occurred hours after Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq. The strikes, Iran said, were in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, while Tehran said it did not want to go to war.

Another video published a day earlier appeared to show the plane going down in flames.