Photo:IRNA

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Thursday that it will join Iran's probe into the fatal crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran.

In a statement, the NTSB said its response operations center has received formal notification from Iran's Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) of the crash of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS-752, which killed 167 passengers and nine crew members on board.

"The NTSB has designated an accredited representative to the investigation of the crash, involving a Boeing 737-800," the statement said.

The agency also said it won't speculate about the cause of the crash, stressing that the AAIB is the lead investigative body.

The ill-fated airliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport Wednesday morning local time. Most of the passengers were Iranians and Canadians.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday in Ottawa that his government has intelligence indicating that an "unintentional" Iranian missile strike took down the jet.

An Iranian minister on Thursday rejected claims that the nation's missiles were responsible for the crash, reiterating that "technical failure" was the cause.