Iranian Missile Likely Shot Down Ukrainian Plane by Mistake, Report Says | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

The author of this post is Josh Hammer.

    According to a breaking report from Newsweek, the recent Ukrainian Boeing 737 that fell to its death, killing all aboard, was likely the result of mistakenly fired Iranian anti-aircraft missiles.

    "The Ukrainian flight that crashed just outside the Iranian capital of Tehran was struck by an anti-aircraft missile system, a Pentagon official, a senior U.S. intelligence official and an Iraqi intelligence official told Newsweek," the outlet began.

    "Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, a Boeing 737-800 en route from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airpot to Kyiv's Boryspil International Airport, stopped transmitting data Tuesday just minutes after takeoff and not long after Iran launched missiles at military bases housing U.S. and allied forces in neighboring Iraq," Newsweek continued. "The aircraft is believed to have been struck by a Russia-built Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile system, known to NATO as Gauntlet, the three officials told Newsweek."

    The weekly news magazine then reached its main point: "One Pentagon and one U.S senior intelligence official told Newsweek that the Pentagon's assessment is that the incident was accidental. Iran's anti-aircraft were likely active following the country's missile attack, which came in response to the U.S. killing last week of Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, sources said."

    In total, 176 perished on the ill-fated flight. Sixty-three were Canadian nationals.

    The Daily Wire recently reported on the flight and the fact that the Iranian government was initially reluctant to cooperate in the ensuing investigation. "Iran will not give the black box of the crashed Ukrainian airliner to plane maker Boeing, the head of Tehran's civil aviation organization was quoted as saying on Wednesday," Reuters reported at the time. "[An Iranian government spokesperson] also said it was not clear which country Iran would send the box to so that its data could be analyzed, semi-official Mehr news agency reported."

    The timing of the downed flight was naturally suspicious, considering that it transpired around the same time that Iran was launching missiles into Iraq to target military bases in Iraq hosting American troops.

    Some anti-Iran hawks on Twitter reacted furiously to the news.

    "Wow ... Iran also refusing to hand over the black box from the flight," said prominent conservative Twitter user "AG." "Really looks like they shot down a civilian airliner leaving Tehran."

    "Reason unclear," he continued. "It was either an accident as they were preparing for possible retaliation from the US or intentional action meant to be blamed on the US pending retaliation which never came. In either case, 176 innocent people are now dead and Iran is likely responsible."

    The unfolding situation with respect to the downed Ukrainian airline is concurrent with the broader geopolitical ratcheting up of tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Yesterday, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro opined on the broader state of hostilities between the two nations:

• The truth is that Iran came off poorly in this exchange. That's not just because a ballistic missile attack that fails to damage American assets looks pitiful. It's because Iran just undercut its entire case in Iraq. In the aftermath of Soleimani's killing, the left-wing press, Democrats, and isolationist right in the United States were blaming Trump for escalating the Iranian situation; that take will not hold water after this latest response.