Iran must take full blame: Trudeau

‘Canada will not rest’ until closure on plane crash

Iran’s admission its military shot down a civilian passenger jet, killing 57 Canadians must be the start of a process to take responsibility, not the end, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday.

“Shooting down a civilian aircraft is horrific. Iran must take full responsibility,” Trudeau said at a news conference.

The prime minister expects the investigation of the incident to continue and include Canadian investigators to determine what went wrong.

“Canada will not rest until we get the accountability, justice and closure that the families deserve.”

Trudeau, who spoke to Rouhani on Saturday, said he demanded that Canada be fully involved in the investigation, including gaining access to the airplane’s black boxes, and being allowed to participate in DNA identification of the victims. He also demanded consular access for Canadian officials to work with grieving families of Canadian victims in Iran.

On Friday Trudeau met with victims’ families in Toronto. He said despite the Iranian admission and apology, he shared the anger of many Canadians.

“I am of course outraged and furious that families across this country are grieving the loss of their loved ones,” he said. “All Canadians are shocked and appalled at the tremendous loss of life.”

Speaking at a memorial for 13 victims in Edmonton, Trudeau says it’s been “gut-wrenching” to listen to stories from the families of Canadians who perished.

After days of denials, Iran’s government admitted Saturday that its armed forces had fired the missile that took down the plane, killing all 176 on board.

The country’s president Hassan Rouhani said on Twitter that their own investigation had concluded they were at fault.

“Armed Forces’ internal investigation has concluded that regrettably missiles fired due to human error caused the horrific crash of the Ukrainian plane death of 176 innocent people,” he said.

Rouhani offered condolences to the families of those killed and said the government would continue to investigate and prosecute those responsible.

All of the 176 people on board Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 were killed when the plane crashed Wednesday morning, minutes after taking off from Tehran’s airport. According to the airline, 138 of the people on board intended to catch a connecting flight to Toronto.

Originally, the government said there were 63 Canadians among the dead, but revised that number to 57 on Friday.

The government has been

AS LONG AS WE KNOW THAT SOMEONE CARES FOR THESE PEOPLE, THAT’S SO IMPORTANT.

seeking access into Iran since the tragedy and has so far been granted three visas to allow consular officials into the country and those three were expected to arrive on Saturday. Another seven, as well as two investigators from the Transportation Safety Board, are currently in Ankara, Turkey awaiting their travel documents. Eight more Canadian officials will travel to Iran Monday to aid the investigation.

Trudeau said Iran is so far co-operating with the granting of visas and that he is seeking assurances Canada receives full access for the investigation.

“We are going to look for tangible examples of real collaboration and real openness every step of the way.”

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at an emotional vigil at the University of Toronto for the victims of the crash. Politicians and members of the academic community spoke of their contributions to Canadian society.

Fati Mortazavi, whose best friend died in the crash, said that having a community come together helped her cope with the tragedy.

“It’s so comforting for us,” said Mortazavi. “As long as we know that someone cares for these people, that’s so important for us.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attended the vigil in Toronto and said the loss goes well beyond the university, which lost six students in the crash.

“This is Toronto’s loss, this is Ontario’s loss and this is Canada’s loss,” an emotional Freeland said at the told the vigil. “Nothing will ever replace these brilliant lives that have been cut short. We will always ... bear these scars.”