From AP: "BREAKING: Iran official denies....>

MIDEAST: From AP: "BREAKING: Iran official denies missile hit Ukrainian plane;

calls on US, Canada to release data backing missile-strike allegation."

- Comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an address last

night that he had intelligence from multiple sources indicating that an Iranian

surface-to-air missile had shot Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 down

on 8 Jan. 

- Both Trudeau and British PM Johnson have said that if shot down, the act could

have been accidental. 63 Canadian nationals, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 4

Afghans, 3 Brits, and 3 Germans were on the flight, as well as 130 Iranians. 

- While flight 752 crash comes at an extremely tense time for relations between

Iran and the West, it is unlikely to spark any further acts of violence in the

region. At present both Tehran and Washington D.C. seem content with

de-escalation, although of course the situation remains fluid.