Western leaders say that Iran most likely shot down a Ukrainian International Airlines jet with a surface-to-air missile -- probably by accident, killing 176 passengers including 63 Canadians. The loss of so many lives has now transformed the U.S.-Iran confrontation.
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But 27 seconds before Trump's tweet, commercial flight trackers had lost contact with a Ukrainian International Airlines jet that had just taken off from Tehran's main airport. On board were 176 people, including 138 passengers on their way to Canada and at least 63 Canadian citizens and 11 Ukrainians. The plane, which never made a mayday call, slammed moments later into the ground.
Instead, what had begun with a drone attack on Gen. Qassem Soleimani's motorcade at the Baghdad airport had suddenly rippled outward until dozens of Iranian-Canadians, dozens of Iranian students studying in Canada, were dead. "I think it is too soon to be drawing conclusions or assigning blame or responsibility in whatever proportions," he told reporters."My thoughts instantly went to how much harder this must make it for those families who are experiencing just a terrible amount of grief right now," he said.
Canada is one of America's oldest and closest allies, but Robert Bothwell, a professor of Canadian history and international relations at the University of Toronto, noted that Trump has said nothing about the dead Canadians.By Thursday night, Trump had yet to mention Canada's tragedy.
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