CBS says U.S. officials “confident” Iran shot down passenger plane

Staff | newsweb@everythinglubbock.com

5 years ago

Bodies of the victims of a Ukrainian plane crash are collected by rescue team at the scene of the crash in Shahedshahr, southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. A Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people crashed on Wednesday, just minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport, turning farmland on the outskirts of Tehran into fields of flaming debris and killing all on board. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

WASHINGTON D.C. — CBS News reported Thursday morning that U.S. officials are confident that Iran shot down a passenger plane Wednesday, killing 176 people on board.

Previously the British government said it is investigating “very concerning” reports about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran, amid speculation that the plane may have been hit by a missile.

The Ukrainian International Airlines plane crashed Wednesday soon after takeoff from Tehran’s airport.

Ukraine’s leader says Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has assured him of full cooperation in investigating the fatal crash of a Ukrainian airliner near the Iranian capital and that Iran would provide experts access to all data. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Rouhani by telephone on Thursday.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)