The Malaysian government - its airline, its airforce, its civilian administration - displayed utter incomptence at the moment of truth, and then made covering up its incompetence its first priority thereafter.
Malaysia is still trying to “save face” but it makes me ask if the plane got significantly more fuel than a flight to Beijing would require. If so, a flight to Iran is possible. They certainly could hide a plane there.
It sure looks to be that way.
It’s worth noting that they are a traditional “face” culture as well. Truth and reality often get shoved aside if avoiding losing face is involved. Lots of face loss potential in many areas of Malaysian society (civil aviation, internal security, military, politicians) here.