Ukrainian security official believes Iran intentionally shot down plane carrying 63 Canadians

A Ukrainian security official has stated that he believes that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, which was hot down in January of last year by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was shot down intentionally, The Globe and Mail reports.

The flight was carrying 176 people, including at least 55 Canadians, although the number of Canadian citizens who were on board the flight is disputed. The Canadian government insists 57 Canadians were aboard the flight, while the Ukrainian government says that their records show 63. There were also 30 permanent residents of Canada aboard the flight.

"Iran does not allow anybody to examine this tragedy, and they postpone or slow down any investigation," said Oleksiy Danilov, who oversaw the early stages of Ukraine's investigation into the downing of the flight. "The fact that they are investigating themselves is rather surprising, to put it politely."

Danilov further stated that he does not believe the Iranian government "when they say this was accidental."

"It was intentional," he insisted. "This was a conscious act."

The Iranian investigation has blamed "human error" for the crash.

The Trudeau government has largely sided with the Iranian investigators, much to the surprise of the Ukrainian government, an ally of Canada. While the Canadian government has expressed some frustration with Iran's lack of transparency in the investigation, Trudeau ultimately blamed Iran's tensions with the United States for the shooting down of the flight, implying that it was shot down in error.

The plane was shot down less than a week after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani by the United States, resulting in a sharp rise in tensions between the two rivals. Iran had fired missiles at American military bases in Iraq that same night in retaliation.

The Canadian government has continued to call for transparency from the Iranian government, but to no avail.