Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, said "there's no blame" for the United States in the Iran shooting down of a passenger plane that killed 176 people, including 57 Canadians.
The House Minority Leader on Tuesday responded to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's comments Monday that escalating tensions in the Middle East led to the disaster.
"There's no blame here for America. America stood up once again for freedom. Iran went past a red line they had not gone before: killing a U.S. citizen. Iran shot down an innocent commercial airliner. There's no doubt where the blame lies," Mr. McCarthy told reporters.
Mr. Trudeau told Global News in an interview Monday that the U.S. did not warn Canada before killing Mr. Soleimani.
"I think if there were no tensions, if there was no escalation recently in the region, those Canadians would be right now home with their families," the Prime Minister said. "This is something that happens when you have conflict and war. Innocents bear the brunt of it."
Mr. McCarthy said Iran bears the sole blame for tensions in the Middle East.
"The reason there are [176] dead people, innocent, is because Iran shot a missile and shot down a commercial liner. The reason why anything escalated is because Iran went and bombed tankers, Iran shot down a U.S. drone, Iran did something much different: killed a U.S. citizen. Iran went and attacked our embassy. So, yes, I agree that Iran is escalating things in the Middle East," he said. "Trudeau is right about what Iran has been doing."
Mr. McCarthy's direct references to the shooting down of the plane are unusual among Mr. Trump's allies. In recent days, Mr. Trump and his administration have repeatedly expressed support for protesters in Iran – and criticized the Iranian regime – but have mostly avoided saying anything about the downed plane. The White House has tried to de-escalate tensions with Tehran since last week, opting to impose sanctions rather than respond militarily to the bombing of American bases.
No U.S. citizens were killed in the plane crash, and the Iranian bombings in Iraq last week also resulted in no deaths.
Ok sure, Jan.