Trudeau Meets Crash Victims’ Families Amid Threat of New U.S. Tensions With Iran

US Dismisses Iraq Request to Outline Plan for Troop Withdrawal

The United States dismissed a request by caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to come up with a plan for withdrawing foreign troops, including American ones, from Iraq. “America is a force for good in the Middle East. Our military presence in Iraq is to continue the fight against ISIS and, as the Secretary has said, we are committed to protecting Americans, Iraqis, and our coalition partners,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a Jan. 10 statement, referring to the ISIS terrorist group. “We have been unambiguous regarding how crucial our D-ISIS mission is in Iraq. At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership—not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East.”…

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met families of the victims of the Tehran plane crash on Jan. 10 as Canadian investigators scrambled to get to Iran.

The private conversations between Trudeau and the families of some of the victims in Toronto follow the prime minister’s assertion on Jan. 9 that multiple intelligence sources had indicated the Ukraine International Airlines flight was brought down by an Iranian missile.

The crash killed 176 people, including 138 who were bound for Canada.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada, meanwhile, was working to get a team into Iran after being invited by its government to take part in the investigation into the cause of the crash. Iran has also invited Russia, Ukraine, France, and Boeing, which built the plane, to participate. 

“We are still working the details on the extent of the TSB’s participation in this investigation,” spokesman Alexandre Fournier said in an email.

Yet as Trudeau met the families and the TSB was preparing its team, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced the details of its promised new sanctions against Iran. That country, in return, accused the U.S. of spreading lies about the crash.

The missile attacks were in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iranian Maj.−Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.

Iran, meanwhile, has defended its handling of the crash investigation, with its officials ruling out a missile attack.

Iran has called on the U.S. and Canada to release information backing allegations it was actually brought down by an Iranian missile.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky echoed those calls, writing on Facebook in Ukrainian that while allegations the plane crashed because of a missile has “not been ruled out, as of today it is not confirmed.”

“We urge all international partners—especially the governments of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—to submit data and evidence relating to the disaster.”

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Russian Warship ‘Aggressively Approached’ US Destroyer in Arabian Sea: Navy

In another statement, the Navy said the Russian ship eventually turned around. “The Russian ship initially refused but ultimately altered course and the two ships opened distance from one another. While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision. The U.S. Navy continues to remain vigilant and is trained to act in a professional manner,” the Navy wrote. Two videos posted by the Navy showed the purported Russian ship traveling quite close to the Fifth Fleet’s vessel. According to CNN, the Navy said the Farragut is part of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier group. It is tasked with intercepting potential enemy ships so they won’t get close to the carrier. The incident…