Rising tensions and condemnation after Iran admits shooting down Ukrainian plane

Published Jan 12, 2020

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DUBAI - Iran's admission that it shot down

a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 aboard, has provoked

international outrage and triggered growing protests against

Iranian authorities in Tehran and other cities including one in

which Britain's ambassador was detained.

In what President Hassan Rouhani called a "disastrous

mistake", Iran said on Saturday that a missile fired in error on

Wednesday by its air defences while on alert after Iranian

missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq brought down the plane. 

Iran had denied for days after the crash that it had shot down

the airliner.

Even as top Iranian officials and the military issued

apologies, protests against authorities spread across Iran

including in the capital Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan, Hamedan and

Orumiyeh. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he does not

seek "regime change" in Iran, took to Twitter to express his

support for the demonstrators, writing, "We are following your

protests closely, and are inspired by your courage."

"The government of Iran must allow human rights groups to

monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests

by the Iranian people. There can not be another massacre of

peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is

watching," Trump wrote.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed late on Saturday that the

country's ambassador in Tehran had been briefly detained by

Iranian authorities. The Tehran-based Tasnim news agency said

the envoy was arrested for several hours in front of Amir Kabir

University for inciting anti-government protesters.

"The arrest of our Ambassador in Tehran without grounds or

explanation is a flagrant violation of international law,"

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

"The Iranian government is at a cross-roads moment. It can

continue its march towards pariah status with all the political

and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to

de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards,"

Raab added.

A leader of Iran's opposition Green Movement, Mehdi

Karroubi, called on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

to step down over the handling of the downed airliner.

Foreign governments condemned the downing of the plane, with

Ukraine demanding compensation. Canada, Ukraine and Britain,

however, called Tehran's admission an important first step.

"What Iran has admitted to is very serious. Shooting down a

civilian aircraft is horrific. Iran must take full

responsibility," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose

country had 57 citizens on board, told a news conference in

Ottawa. "Canada will not rest until we get the accountability,

justice, and closure that the families deserve."

Trudeau said Rouhani committed to collaborating with

Canadian investigators, working to de-escalate tensions in the

region and continuing a dialogue.

Up to 1,000 protesters chanted slogans in Tehran against the

authorities, the semi-official Fars news agency said in a rare

report on anti-government unrest.

Demonstrators ripped up pictures of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's

most influential military commander who was killed in a Jan. 3

U.S. drone strike in Iraq ordered by Trump. Iranian missile

strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for

the killing led to Iran being on a state of high alert for

possible reprisals when the plane was downed.

On Twitter, videos showed protesters demanding that Khamenei

step down because of the disaster.

"Commander-in-chief resign, resign," hundreds chanted in

front of Tehran's Amir Kabir university. Reuters could not

verify the footage.

Demonstrations in Iran against a hike in fuel prices turned

political last year, sparking the bloodiest crackdown in the

40-year history of the Islamic Republic. About 1,500 people were

killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov.

15, three Iranian interior ministry officials told Reuters,

though international rights groups put the figure much lower and

Iran called the report "fake news."

LEGITIMACY CRISIS

Iran's clerical rulers risk a legitimacy crisis amid popular

anger at the way they handled the plane's downing. The belated

admission by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards squandered the

national unity on display after Soleimani's killing. Khamenei,

who has no term limit, has been in office since the death in

1989 of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah

Khomeini. Khamenei is 80.

Khamenei, until now silent about the crash, said information

about the incident should be made public.

The shooting down of the passenger jet heightened

international pressure on Iran after months of friction with the

United States and tit-for-tat attacks. Canada and the United

States had both said early on that they believed an Iranian

missile brought down the aircraft, probably in error.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous

mistake," Rouhani wrote on Twitter, promising that those

responsible would be prosecuted.

In a televised address on Saturday, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had agreed with Rouhani on the

beginning of joint work on decoding the black boxes from the

downed aircraft. Zelenskiy also urged Ukraine's international

partners to be united and persistent until the investigation was

complete.

In Twitter messages, angry Iranians asked why the plane was

allowed to take off with tensions in Iran so high. The plane, a

Boeing 737-800 bound for Kiev, came down shortly after

takeoff from Tehran, when Iran was alert for U.S. reprisals

after launching rockets at U.S. troops in Iraqi bases.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards, in a rare step, apologised to

the nation and accepted full responsibility. Senior Guards

commander Amirali Hajizadeh said he had informed Iran's

authorities on Wednesday about the unintentional strike, a

comment that raised questions about why officials had publicly

denied it for so long.

A military statement said the plane flew close to a

sensitive Revolutionary Guards site at a time of high alert.

Ukraine said the plane was in a normal flight corridor and

Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation said the airliner had not

veered off its normal course.

Ukraine International Airlines said Iran should have closed

the airport. The carrier said it had received no indication it

faced a threat and was cleared for take off.

Reuters

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