British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced there is a "body of information" now indicating that the Ukranian Boening was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, Reuters reported.
"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.
Johnson echoed Canadian premier Justin Trudeau who said earlier in the day that he had intelligence from multiple sources that the Ukrainian jet was downed by an Iranian missile but stated it was too early to assign blame or draw any conclusions.
The British premier called for a transparent investigation into the crash.
"We are working closely with Canada and our international partners and there now needs to be a full, transparent investigation ... The UK continues to call on all sides urgently to de-escalate to reduce tensions in the region", Johnson said.
Earlier, the head of Iran's civil aviation, Ali Abedzadeh, denied allegations made by two unnamed US officials that the Boeing 737-800 was downed by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile, calling them "illogical rumours".
A Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing 737-800 bound for Kiev crashed on early Wednesday morning just minutes into its flight, killing all 176 people on board, including nine crew members. The plane was carrying mostly Iranians and Canadians (82 and 63 respectively), as well as 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans, and three UK citizens.
