IRAN shot down The Kiev-bound Ukraine plane?

Facebook Suspends Pastor Over Post Criticizing Iran’s Treatment of LGBTQ People
Photo by Joshua Hoehne/Unsplash
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor
January 13, 2020
A Christian pastor from Washington state is claiming Facebook censored his account after he authored a post criticizing Iran’s treatment of LGBTQ people.
Ken Peters, pastor of Covenant Church in Spokane, posted a tweet Friday afternoon about his suspension from Facebook.
Pastor Ken Peters - TCAPP
@pastorkenrp
Facebook said I was making the LGBTQ less than human with this post: 
“The LGBTQ supporting Iran, is like chickens supporting KFC.”
They banned me for three days! 
They obviously didn’t get the point.#LeftistCensorship
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6:03 PM - Jan 10, 2020
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Peters said he was contacted by Facebook and told his post — “The LGBTQ supporting Iran is like chickens supporting KFC” — suggested those in the LGBTQ community are “less than human.”

“My post was in no way hateful,” Peters explained in a statement to TheBlaze. “I was making the point that totalitarian Muslims in Iran persecute and execute LGBTQ people. On the other hand, freedom-loving Christians in America disagree with their immorality but would never hurt them.”

https://www.faithwire.com/2020/01/13/facebook-suspends-pastor-over-post-criticizing-irans-treatment-of-lgbtq-people/?utm_source=FWNL
Iran Destroys Grave of Martyred Christian Pastor, Family Responds
“It is strange and ironic,” he continued, “that the LGBTQ community would take the side of those who would murder them if they could.”
What’s the background?
Peters’ post came shortly after President Donald Trump authorized a strike to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, whom he has said was plotting “imminent and sinister attacks” on U.S. citizens.
In a statement earlier this month explaining the decision, which the president actually authorized in June, Trump said the drone strike on a Baghdad airport was an action “to stop a war.” During a rally in Miami, Trump said Soleimani “was planning a very major attack and we got him.”
Democrats, though, have described the killing of Soleimani, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Forces, as a dangerous escalation, making U.S. dealings in the region less safe. None have defended the Iranian commander or mourned his death. Rather, they have questioned the wisdom of Trump’s decision to take action.
‘Profoundly Chilling’: Why Free Speech Group Accuses Iowa State Univ. of Censoring Students
“No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing,” said former Vice President Joe Biden, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. “He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos.”
However, now that Iranians are protesting their own regime — not Trump — following the shoot-down of a passenger plane during attempted attacks by Tehran on U.S. bases in Iraq, Democrats have been largely silent.
Journalist Yashar Ali, who is of Iranian descent, has called out lawmakers on the left for seemingly only speaking out in support of Iranian protests when said protests are against Trump.
Yashar Ali

@yashar
 · Jan 12, 2020
Replying to @yashar
8. And while Iranians aren't a monolith and there are 80 million people in Iran, you don't see Iranians blaming President Trump for the cash (in which Iranian citizens were killed). They're blaming the IRGC and the Supreme Leader for a series of horrific mistakes
Yashar Ali

@yashar
9. I've gone through some of the most active and prominent liberal Twitter accounts and none of them mentioned the Iran protests today. These same people were actively tweeting about wanting to avoid war and attacking Trump for his decision. 
What happened?
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6:54 AM - Jan 12, 2020
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“In this context,” he continued, “Iranians are being used by certain people on the left (i didn’t say all) as a tool to attack President Trump. But these same people don’t seem to care to … support their right to protest?”

https://www.conservativeinstitute.org/conservative-news/protesters-iran-regime-jet.htm
Protesters in Iran chant ‘death to the dictator’ after regime shoots down passenger jet
January 12, 2020

In the wake of the U.S. airstrike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, many in the liberal media insisted that President Donald Trump had committed a cruel act of terror against the Islamic Republic. But it seems the people of Iran aren’t as pleased with their own leaders as the American left would like to believe.

According to a report from the Washington Examiner, protesters in Iran have taken the streets with calls for the country’s supreme leader to resign — or even face death — after Tehran’s retaliation for Soleimani’s killing left 167 civilians dead, including 82 Iranians.

Iranians take to the streets
In video shared to social media on Saturday, Iranian demonstrators could be heard chanting: “Death to the dictator,” the Examiner reported.
Others protesting in Tehran insisted: “Commander in chief, resign, resign.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274511?fbclid=IwAR16RmXhCShWTwTHJHdfy-IbJ72qOiTcVHUsB76X0qn9Ne8LL5QRvrEpjks
MainAll NewsUS & CanadaCanadian PM: Ukrainian plane shot down due to 'regional escalation'
Canadian PM: Ukrainian plane shot down due to 'regional escalation'
Justin Trudeau says 57 Canadians killed when Iran shot down Ukrainian plane would be alive if not for recent escalations in tensions.
Ben Ariel, 14/01/20 02:44
Justin Trudeau
Justin TrudeauReuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that the 57 Canadians killed when Iran shot down Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 last week would be alive if not for recent escalations in tensions in the region.
“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 said in an interview with Global News.

“This is something that happens when you have conflict and war. 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,” he added.

Iran initially denied having anything to do with the crash, but US officials said early on that the plane had been shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

On Saturday, Iran finally admitted that it had made a mistake and shot the Ukrainian plane after it flew too close to a sensitive military site and failed to respond to signals.

The crash came shortly after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that house US forces in retaliation for the US eliminating top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

Trudeau has faced repeated questions over the past week on whether he believes US President Donald Trump also bears some responsibility for the incident due to the fact that it came just hours after the missile strikes by Iran.

In Monday’s interview, Trudeau said he spoke with Trump about the incident.

“I have spoken to him and I have talked about the need to de-escalate tensions,” he said. “I’ve talked about the tremendous grief and loss that Canadians are feeling, and the need for clear answers on how this happened and how we’re going to make sure it never happens again.”


He added, however, the focus for him and the Canadian government right now remains on the victims, even as it could be “weeks, perhaps even months” before the victims are repatriated for burial.

“The grief they’re going through is not to be consoled right now. They want answers, they’ve expressed anger and outrage and also immeasurable pain,” he told Global News.

“I am hurt like all Canadians. I am angry like all Canadians. But unlike many people I have a job to do that will be able to help these families directly. Getting answers for them is my entire focus right now.”

His comments come ahead of a meeting being hosted by Canada on Thursday in London, in which members of the International Coordination and Response Group are set to lay out their next steps for pushing for credible answers and access to black box data.

Trudeau said the goal of the meeting will be looking at ways to demand justice.

“I think full admission, acknowledgment of responsibility and some form of compensation is going to have to come,” he said.

https://gellerreport.com/2020/01/iran-shot-down-passenger-jet-fuselage-covered-in-shrapnel-holes.html/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
IRAN PLANE WAS MOST LIKELY SHOT DOWN AS CRASH PICS SHOW ‘OBVIOUS PROJECTILE HOLES’, SAY EXPERT
By: Tom Michael, Danielle Cinone, Richard Wheatstone, Will Stewart, The Sun, 8 Jan 2020:

A PLANE that crashed killing 176 people hours after an Iranian missile strike on US bases was “likely” shot down and wreckage shows “obvious projectile holes”, experts say.
The Kiev-bound Ukraine International Airlines jet came down shortly after taking off from Tehran Airport in Iran this morning, killing everyone on board.
The fuselage is seen covered in small shrapnel holesCredit: Reuters
 Part of the aircraft's wing can be seen riddled with holes

Part of the aircraft’s wing can be seen riddled with holesCredit: Abolfazle Mahrokh/ISNA

The plane’s black box flight recorder was pictured on Iranian TV
  
Another chunk of the plane with the airline’s logo is seen peppered with holes

Rescue workers walk past rows of body bags at the scene of the plane tragedy

The tragedy came just hours after Tehran fired at least 15 ballistic missiles at two US bases in Iraq, sparking fears it could have been shot down by mistake by jittery Iranian air defences.
Iran blamed “technical problems” for the deadly fireball, and have locked down the crash site and refused to release the black boxes to international authorities.

But aviation experts have now suggested a “shootdown” was the most likely explanation for the disaster.

The OPS group, an aviation risk monitoring group, said: “We would recommend the starting assumption to be that this was a shootdown event, similar to MH17 – until there is clear evidence to the contrary.”


They highlighted pictures of the crash site which they said “show obvious projectile holes in the fuselage and a wing section”.

Aviation expert Julian Bray told Sun Online: “This is catastrophic and not the type of crash that comes from an engine failing. There would have been nothing that anyone could do.

“It is very unusual, you would expect to see some wreckage but all we can see here is debris.”

But he added that it was too early to say for sure what caused the crash, with other experts agreeing.

THE LATEST

Ukraine has now dropped its initial “engine failure” reference after it is revealed pilots did not make any kind of mayday call from the 2016-built plane.
Ukraine banned flights through Iranian airspace in response.
Ukraine President has instructed prosecutors to open criminal proceedings on the crash.
Iran has refused to give the plane’s black boxes to Boeing, but says both have been found.
Iran’s civil aviation authority is investigating.
BLACK BOX
The plane’s black box flight recorders have since been found, with one Iranian official saying they were damaged but their data could still be retrieved.

However, Iran is refusing to hand them over to international authorities, Reuters reports.

Iranian media said the Boeing 737 came down after “technical problems” and quoted an aviation chief who said no emergency had been declared.

Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation authority, claimed one of its engines caught fire, causing the pilot to lose control.

But the aircraft was new in 2016 and was last checked just two days ago, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

BALL OF FLAMES
And jet engine maker CFM slammed claims the crash was caused by engine failure, saying it was too early to speculate on what was behind the tragedy.

Ukraine’s Tehran embassy initially blamed engine failure but later removed the statement, saying it could not officially comment on the cause until after a probe.

It also abruptly removed a line from its statement excluding a terrorist attack or missile strike.

Horrifying footage posted online shows the plane engulfed in flames as it went down.

The single-aisle, twin-engine jetliner had 167 passengers and nine crew members on board.

Among them were 63 Canadians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Brits, Ukraine’s foreign minister Vadym Prystaiko confirmed.

There were also 82 Iranians, 11 Ukrainians and four Afghans aboard, he added.

 The plane crashed shortly after take-off at Tehran Airport

The plane crashed shortly after take-off at Tehran Airport

 Footage appears to show the jet in flames before hitting the ground

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Footage appears to show the jet in flames before hitting the ground
 The plane was filmed hitting the ground in a ball of flames

The plane was filmed hitting the ground in a ball of flames
 Harrowing images showed victims placed in body bags at the scene

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Harrowing images showed victims placed in body bags at the sceneCredit: AFP or licensors


A child’s book lies among the wreckage strewn across the groundCredit: Getty – Contributor
 The scorched crash site is seen form air air after the plane slammed into the ground

The scorched crash site is seen form air air after the plane slammed into the ground
 Smoke rises after the fireball killed all 176 people on board

Smoke rises after the fireball killed all 176 people on boardCredit: MIZAN
 Rescue teams examine what appears to be the wheel of the airliner in the wreckage

Rescue teams examine what appears to be the wheel of the airliner in the wreckageCredit: AFP or licensors
‘SHOT DOWN’ FEARS
The crash came just hours after Iran launched at least 15 missiles at two US bases housing American and British troops in Erbil and Al Asad.

And it happened hours after a  4.9-magnitude earthquake struck near to an Iranian nuclear site.

It is feared the plane may have been shot down by nervous Iranian defences in the aftermath of the missile attacks.

The strikes were codenamed Operation Martyr Soleimani – in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a US air raid last week.

The plane crash comes just days after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared to hint he was threatening another Lockerbie bombing.

And it bears chilling similarities to the 2014 downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane by Russian-backed separatists over Ukraine, after it was mistaken for an incoming missile.

The US Navy also killed 290 people in a similar incident after mistakenly shooting down an Iranian passenger jet in 1988.

A number of airlines have now suspended flights over Iranian and Iraqi airspace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy today said he has instructed prosecutors to open criminal proceedings, and the plane’s black box flight recorders have reportedly been found.

But according to reports Iranian officials were refusing to hand it over to international authorities.

Flight data shows the plane reached an altitude of 2.4 km and then suddenly disappeared.

The three-year-old plane stopped sending data almost immediately after it took off, according to website FlightRadar24.

Rescuers rushed to the scene of the crash but could not get near the site because of the intensity of the flames.

Images show flaming wreckage strewn across the ground in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

And other harrowing pictures show victims being lined up in body bags at the scene and their possessions collected in a field nearby.

PLANE CRASHES IN IRAN HOURS AFTER MISSILE BARRAGE
3am local time – Iran announced it had fired ballistic missiles as two US army bases in Iraq in what they said was an ‘act of self-defense’

6am – Iranian state TV claimed that 80 ‘American terrorists’ were killed during the bombing but President Trump responded with a tweet saying: “All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!”

6.15am – Flight PS752 takes off from Tehran Airport but crashed shortly after departure

8.30am – All 176 people on board a Ukrainian commercial airliner that crashed after take-off from Tehran are confirmed dead by an Iranian emergency official

10.30am – Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemns missile strikes on Iraqi military bases and urges Iran ‘not to repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks’


12pm – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko confirms three British nationals were on board the doomed flight

An arrivals board at Kiev airport shows the doomed Tehran flightCredit: AP:Associated Press
 A woman fights back tears as she waits for news at Kiev Airport

A woman fights back tears as she waits for news at Kiev AirportCredit: Reuters
 Tearful relatives were seen at the airport in Ukraine where the plane was due to land

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Tearful relatives were seen at the airport in Ukraine where the plane was due to landCredit: Reuters
 Flight trackers show the plane crashed near Parand just moments after take-off