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.