U.S. officials believe Ukraine jetliner was shot down

Pentagon and U.S. intelligence officials believe the Ukraine Airlines jet that crashed Wednesday in Tehran killing 176 people was shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft system.

Newsweek cited three security officials who believe a Russia-built Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile struck the airliner as it headed to Kiev as Iran launched missiles at two U.S. bases in Iraq.

Iranian investigators contend the crash was an accident, insisting the plane was trying to turn back due to a technical problem.

But the crew made no distress call. And Iran has refused to hand over the black box recorders to international investigators.

Video showed the Boeing 737-800 in flames in the air before coming down a short distance from Tehran.

Among the passengers were 71 Iranian citizens and 73 Canadian citizens, most of whom also had Iranian citizenship.

Ukraine has sent a team of missile specialists to Iran to investigate.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, vowing to find the "truth, has declared a national day of mourning.

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