Iraq News Now

An investigation has been

launched with participation of many experts from around the world, including from

Britain and Canada after a Ukrainian International Boeing 737-800 airliner

crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people aboard, shortly after taking off.

While Iran claims the

airliners was brought down by a mechanical issue, world leaders think the jet

was hit accidentally by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.

It was very likely that an

Iranian missile shot down the Ukrainian jetliner, the Dutch foreign minister

said on Friday, adding that the European Union's next steps would depend on how

Tehran reacts to the results of an investigation, Reuters reported.

"It is indeed very

likely that the plane has been shot down by Iranian missiles," Stef Blok

told reporters ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

Asked whether Iran should be

sanctioned, Blok said: "It depends on the Iranian reaction (to the outcome

of independent analysis) on what should be the next steps."

Iran's air defence may have

shot down the Ukrainian passenger plane, the head of the North Atlantic Treaty

Organisation (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, according to Reuters.

"It is important that we

establish all the facts there... I call on Iran to fully participate and

contribute to a transparent and thorough investigation," Stoltenberg told

reporters on entering an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers.

"We have no reason to

not believe the reports we have seen from different NATO allies... that the

plane may have been downed by Iranian air defence systems," he said.

"That's exactly why we

need a thorough investigation, to establish all the facts and that's exactly

why we have to have full cooperation from the Iranian side in such an

investigation," he said.

Canada has intelligence from

multiple sources indicating a Ukrainian airliner that crashed on Wednesday near

Tehran was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Trudeau told a news

conference in Ottawa the destruction of the airliner may well have been

unintentional.

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson said on Thursday there was a body of evidence that the Ukrainian

airliner was downed by a surface to air missile that might well have been fired

unintentionally, Reuters reported.

Echoing the conclusion of the

United States and Canada, Johnson called for a full and transparent

investigation into the crash which killed all 176 people on board including

four Britons.

"There is now a body of

information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian Surface to Air Missile.

This may well have been unintentional," Johnson said in a statement.

"The UK continues to call on all sides urgently to deescalate to reduce

tensions in the region."