10 Jan 2020

Iran mistakenly shot Ukraine plane down - US officials

From Summer Report, 8:10 am on 10 January 2020

United States officials believe a Ukraine airliner that crashed in Iran - killing all 176 people aboard - was mistakenly shot down by Iranian air defenses.

The crash came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq earlier this week. Speaking to reporters today, Trump suggested that he believes Iran was responsible, without laying direct blame.

One US official says US satellites detected the launch of two missiles shortly before the plane crashed - followed by evidence of an explosion.

Washington now believes the downing of the plane - which happened Wednesday local time - was accidental. Our correspondent in Washington, Simon Marks, spoke to Leigh-Marama McLachlan.