Ukrainian president Zelensky calls on US, Canada & UK to provide evidence that Tehran jet was downed

President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the international partners to provide some evidence to back up the claims that the Ukrainian jet, which crashed outside Tehran with 176 on board, was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

Kiev expects that it will be provided with all the data necessary to conduct an "objective investigation," Zelensky said on Friday.

“The theory about missile hitting the plane is not ruled out, but it's not confirmed as of today. Given the recent statements by countries' leaders to the media, we urge all international partners – primarily the governments of the United States, Canada and the UK – to provide data and evidence on this tragedy,” Zelensky stated, revealing that he will discuss the investigation with the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later in the day.

The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed outside Iran's capital on Wednesday, shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini airport. All 176 people on board were killed in the crash — the majority of the victims were Iranian and Canadian nationals.

The incident occurred shortly after an Iranian missile attack on American bases in Iraq in response to the US assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani. The coincidence prompted allegations that the jet might have been downed by an anti-aircraft missile – and while no proof for that is available, the claims have been backed by top politicians already.

US President Donald Trump said that "somebody could've made a mistake," suggesting that Tehran was behind the crash. The US allies followed, doubling down on the allegations – Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said he received "intelligence" from multiple sources that the jet was downed by an Iranian missile, adding, however, that it might have been unintentional. Similar claim was produced by his UK counterpart Boris Johnson, who said he possesses a "body of information" indicating the flight was shot down by the Iranians.

Iran, however, has firmly denied the allegations of shooting down the aircraft. Iranian civil aviation authorities said that no missile debris had been found at the crash site, and urged the US and Canada to release the data backing the missile hit claims.

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