U.S. intelligence officials have revealed that the Ukranian-bound Boeing airliner that crashed in Iran on Wednesday killing 176 people was mistakenly struck by an Iranian missile, according to reports to NBC News.
The Boeing 737-800 crash was originally reported by Iranian officials to have been caused by a mechanical failure, but spy satellite imagery shows otherwise. The plane crashed only hours after Iran had launched multiple missile strikes against Iraqi military bases that were housing American troops.
President Donald Trump said “I had my suspicions” when asked about the crash during a White House event Thursday morning.
“I don’t want to say that because other people have their suspicions also. It’s a tragic thing when I see that,” Trump said. “It’s a tragic thing, but somebody could have made a mistake on the other side.”
He also said that “it was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood, and somebody could have made a mistake. Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don’t think that’s even a question.”
The passengers on the plane that was shot down shortly after take-off were mostly from Iran and Canada, but some where also from Sweden and Ukraine.
An Iranian state-run news outlet reported that the country’s head of civil aviation dismissed the reports as “illogical rumors.”
“It sounds pretty convincing that the plane that was shot down that killed 167 people was shot down by Iranians,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, said.
Inhofe wasn’t sure what the U.S. response would be if the reports are true saying, “I don’t want to interfere with the decisions that are now being made by the president.”
“I’m quite sure I’ll be talking to him because we talk on a regular basis about things like that,” Inhofe continued.
Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham wasn’t shy about giving his own opinion on a U.S. response, saying that if Iran did in fact shoot down the plane “it would be an outrage.”
“What I would do if I were the president would be to reach out to the Canadian people and the Prime Minister and try to rally the world around the idea that we shouldn’t accept 40 more years of state sponsored terrorism,” Graham said.
International law states that the country where the crash happened leads the investigation into the cause, but because the plane is American-made, Boeing and federal investigators would normally be involved.
Iran has not revealed where it may send the recovered black boxes from the plane yet, and Iranian aviation officials said the black boxes were damaged by fire in the crash. It may take up to a year for investigators to find out the cause of the crash as well.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has already gotten involved and has promised to find the “truth” behind the crash. Ukrainian investigators have already been sent to Iran to assist with the investigation.
A statement from Boeing showed that the aviation company is “ready to assist in any way needed.”
Boeing (NYSE: BA) shares rose on the news that Iranian missiles may have been the cause of the crash instead of mechanical failure. Shares were up 1.6% to $336.88 around 2:20 p.m.
The aviation company has been struggling to recover after two deadly crashes last year of its 737 Max airliner that is now grounded indefinitely.