176 people were killed when the aircraft, which was a Boeing 737 model, crashed shortly after takeoff - and according to Justin Trudaeu, there is much to indicate that it must have been shot down by Iranian air defense. The New York Times has also published a video that is said to show how the plane hits.

However, this is strongly demented by Iran.

"We have to wait for the outcome of the investigation, but we can already say with certainty that the plane was definitely not shot down by a robot," said Iranian flight organization manager Ali Abedzadeh at a press conference in Iranian television.

According to Ali Abedzadeh, parts of the aircraft would have been scattered over a large area if it had been hit by a missile, someone he denies should have happened.

Iran has also shown the two tachographs from the plane on television. The tachographs, sometimes described based on the old term black box, should be damaged but still readable.