Iran has rejected suggestions that one of its missiles brought down a Ukrainian passenger jet near the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday, the BBC reports.
Its civil aviation chief said on Friday he was “certain” that the plane was not hit by a missile.
He was responding to claims by Western leaders that evidence suggested the plane had been hit by a surface-to-air missile, possibly in error.
The crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 with the loss of 176 lives came just hours after Iran carried out missile strikes on two airbases housing US forces in Iraq.
US media have speculated that the airliner may have been mistaken for a warplane as Iran prepared for possible US retaliation.
