How the crash of Ukrainian Flight 752 unfolded, from the plunge that killed 176 people, to allegations it was shot down by an Iranian missile

Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

• Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed in Iran on Wednesday morning, killing all 176 people on board.
• Iran has sought to blame technical issues with the plane, but it is now being accused of shooting down the plane itself with an anti-aircraft missile.
• Rising political tensions in the region have led to conflicts over what countries and companies are involved in the investigation into the crash, and Iran has accused those blaming it of shooting the plane of "big lies."
• Here's everything that has happened so far.
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Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed just minutes after taking off from Tehran, Iran on Wednesday morning, killing all 176 people on board.

What started as Iran claiming that a technical issue was to blame has led to the country being accused of accidentally shooting down the plane itself as it was on heightened military alert due to US missile strikes.

Iran is denying involvement as the US and Canada point to intelligence that they say suggest a missile is to blame.

The fallout has been marked by changing explanations and political roadblocks over who is involved in investigating the cause of the crash and who is to blame.

Here is a chronological timeline of how the crash and its aftermath has unfolded so far:

WEDNESDAY: The plane crash took place against a backdrop of heightened tensions between the US and Iran, which kicked off when the US assassinated Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

This prompted Iran to retaliate, and it fired more a dozen missiles at US forces in Iraq early in the morning of Wednesday, January 8.

Multiple reports said US officials believe the strikes were intended as warnings and that Iran may have been shooting to miss.

Then, at 6.12 a.m. local time, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 took off from Iran's Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport, according to flight tracking software.

The plane was going to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital.

See Also:

• Iran is doubling down in calling allegations that it shot down Flight 752 a 'big lie,' accusing the US of carrying out a 'psychological operation' to discredit its story
• Ukraine is investigating if the plane that crashed in Iran killing 176 people was brought down by a missile or terrorist attack
• Ukrainian Flight 752 was on fire and seemed to be turning back before it crashed in Iran and killed 176 people, the first report into the disaster said