- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suggested President Donald Trump bears some responsibility for Iran’s mistaken downing of a commercial airliner last week.
- Trudeau argued in a new interview that Iran never would have shot the plane down – killing all 176 passengers and crew members, including 63 Canadians – if tensions between the US and Iran hadn’t recently escalated.
- “If there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families,” Trudeau told Global News.
- “This is something that happens when you have conflict and war,” Trudeau added. “Innocents bear the brunt of it, and it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation.”
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suggested that President Donald Trump bears some responsibility for Iran’s downing of a commercial plane last week – an accident that happened hours after Iran retaliated against the US for assassinating its top military leader.
In a new interview, Trudeau argued that Iran never would have shot the plane down – killing all 176 passengers and crew members, including 63 Canadians – if the conflict between the US and Iran hadn’t recently escalated.
“If there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families,” Trudeau told Canada’s Global News in an interview Monday.
Trump’s decision to kill Iran’s top military commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, sparked fears of a larger confrontation between the two countries, and prompted Iran to respond by launching a missile strike against an airbase in Iraq that houses US soldiers.
"This is something that happens when you have conflict and war," Trudeau went on. "Innocents bear the brunt of it and it is a reminder why all of us need to work so hard on de-escalation, moving forward to reduce tensions and find a pathway that doesn't involve further conflict and killing."
Trudeau echoed the sentiment of other close US allies who felt undermined by the Trump's unilateral actions towards Iran.
The Canadian leader said he "obviously" would have preferred if the US government had given him advanced warning that it was planning the deadly strike against Soleimani to better protect Canadian troops and civilians.
After days of denials, the Iranian government admitted on Friday that it shot down Ukrainian Flight 752 in error, calling the move "unintentional." The admission has sparked days of protests against the regime in Tehran and other Iranian cities.
