UPDATED: Crash of Ukrainian airliner work of Iran/Islamic terrorists?

New just breaking... Ukraianian International Airlines flight PS752 crashed just after takeoff from Tehran's international airport this morning, killing all 176 passengers and crew. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Vadym Prystaiko said 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians were on board. The Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew. There were also ten Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals, he said.

Some reports say the aircraft -- a Boeing 737-800 (not the same type as the Max8) -- was on fire when it crashed. That could indicate a mid-air explosion. May Walt be forgiven for wondering if this tragedy is in any way connected with the retaliation promised by the Iranian government for the killing of Gen. Qassem Suleimani by a US drone strike, late last week. Stay tuned.

UPDATE ADDED at 1230: Latest reports are that the Iranian government will not hand over the "black boxes" (=flight data recorders) from the crashed plane to either Boeing or America. Iran's semi-official news agency quoted the head of Iran's civil aviation organization as saying it was not clear which country Iran would send the black boxes to for analysis, but it would not give them to Boeing, which is based in the United States, a country with which Iran has no diplomatic relations. What does that tell you?