The disaster occurred amid a heightened political crisis between the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf, happening just hours after the Iranian military launched 15 rockets aimed towards U.S military airbases in Iraq in response to the Baghdad International Airport airstrike by the US on 3 January, killing top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. In the early hours after the incident, Iranian Twitter accounts wrote without providing evidence that the aircraft was erroneously shot down by the Iranian military. Al-Hadath, a Dubai-based news channel, also wrote that anti-aircraft missiles had shot down the aircraft.[23] The ISNA and other Iranian state news agencies, however, reported that the plane was facing technical difficulties.[24] In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that there should not be any speculation about the cause of the crash.[3]