OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting this morning with families of the victims of Wednesday's plane crash in Iran, which killed 176 people, including 138 who were bound for Canada.

The private conversations in Toronto come as there is a looming threat of fresh tensions between Iran and the West.

U.S. officials say they are levelling new sanctions against Tehran for having launched ballistic missile attacks earlier this week against two bases in Iraq housing American soldiers, one of which also contained Canadian forces.

Iran, meanwhile, is denying that one of its missiles brought down the Ukraine International Airlines flight that crashed near Tehran.

Iran and Ukraine are calling on the U.S. and Canada to release information backing such allegations as Canadian officials are preparing to participate in the investigation into the crash.

Iran this morning released images purportedly showing the plane's two black boxes, which contain recorded data from the jetliner, though it remains unclear whether it will turn the boxes over to outside investigators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2020.

— with files from The Associated Press.