Iran’s supreme leader says that the downing of a civilian airliner leaving Tehran was a bitter accident that saddened Iran and made its enemies happy.
In a rare sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Iran’s international rivals have seized on the crash to question the country and its armed forces.
The crash of a Ukraine International Airlines jet after it was hit by at least one surface-to-air missile last week killed 176 people, including 138 bound for Canada.
Khamenei also attacks the United States for its killing of a top Iranian general, which was a factor in putting Iranian air defences on a hair-trigger, and calls President Donald Trump a clown.
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In London yesterday, Canada called a meeting of most of the countries affected and laid out demands for Iran’s co-operation with the investigation, punishing those responsible, and compensating victims’ families.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has scheduled a news conference in Ottawa this morning to report on Canada’s efforts since the strike.
—with files from The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
