Protests and condemnation after Iran admits downing Ukrainian plane

By Babak Dehghanpisheh and Alexander Cornwell

 

Relatives of the flight crew members of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane that crashed in Iran, mourn at a memorial at the Boryspil International airport outside Kiev, Ukraine January 11, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

 

DUBAI (Reuters) - 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.

 

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, Parisa Hafezi and Alexander Cornwell in Dubai, Steve Holland, Howard Schneider and Jonathan Landay in Washington, Estelle Shirbon in London, Allison Lampert in Montreal, Steve Scherer in Ottawa and Natalia Zinets in Kiev; Writing by Edmund Blair, Giles Elgood and Will Dunham; Editing by Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-12

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10 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

40-year history of the Islamic Republic.

Would be nice if Iran could become a normal country again, after all these years.

it would take some serious clock-winding-back,

to another era: 

  

 

Of course they are protesting. After killing 1500 innocent people for rioting over necessities, the removal of the regime's right hand man Soleimani, a face loosing 'attack' against the US without casualties, and now shooting down a plane load on innocent people, even though Tehran was never attacked, ... this could be the regime's death knell. Let's remember they came to power by locking 400 people in a movie theatre and burning it to the ground to start riots. And some cheer these people.

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by rabas

Silence from the Democrats who have been crying their little eyes out over the death of a terrorist.

170 civilians in the plane + 40 trampled at the funeral = silence

Despicable undemocrats of America

18 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Would be nice if Iran could become a normal country again, after all these years.

Being squeezed to death  makes it difficult  to behave  normally I would  think.

34 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

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.

I wonder if Trump sleeps well at night, putting everything else aside.

 

I also wonder why Trump has stepped back now, satisfied that he killed an evil man for the lives of 176 innocent civilians.

 

Iran's business is not my business, just saying and please don't tell me that America has the interests of the Iranian people at heart because of human rights violations, as America is one of the biggest violators along with it's cronies who join America when pressured. 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by 4MyEgo

16 minutes ago, tifino said:

it would take some serious clock-winding-back,

to another era: 

  

 

Oh yes. Install  the second  generation  Shah? The first one got a bit out of hand which led to the popular revolution.

 

A passenger plane shot down heading the wrong way for an incoming attack is a deliberate act of war no mistake its mass state murder???? 

34 minutes ago, rabas said:

Let's remember they came to power by locking 400 people in a movie theatre and burning it to the ground to start riots. And some cheer these people.

Let's be very clear about this. The only people cheering the Iranian regime are the American left. Everybody else both inside and outside Iran is totally disgusted by the rogue murderous regime. 

59 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Silence from the Democrats who have been crying their little eyes out over the death of a terrorist.

170 civilians in the plane + 40 trampled at the funeral = silence

Despicable undemocrats of America

Nonsense comments like this above is the pure propaganda as spewed by FOX and Rush Limbaugh and should be ridiculed. If Trump had not chose to escalate this pointless conflict with Iran the plane would not have been shot down either. Iran shooting down a civilian airliner is not an accident whether intentional or not but the investigations of almost every crash discover a set of circumstances and a CHAIN of ERRORS. One of them will  be the Ukranian airlines decision to continue normal operations in Teheran under the circumstances.  The US Navy in 1988 shot down an Iranian airliner, total incompetence, and as far as I know although paying compensation no US government agency or official has ever admitted wrong doing or apologized. I will never forget in a moment of stunning callousness and arrogance when GHW Bush claiming he would never apologize for the US and "I don't care what the facts are". Despicable.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by Captain Monday

What is even more frightening is that in a couple of years they will have nuclear weapons ,with people like this in control ,be afraid ,be very afraid.

10 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

What is even more frightening is that in a couple of years they will have nuclear weapons ,with people like this in control ,be afraid ,be very afraid.

I will guess that Trump has thought about this. He will wait until the Iranian regime starts to lose its grip on power and lashes out with some missile strike on SA or oil tankers and Trump will use it as an excuse to totally wipe out all Iranian nuclear facilities. It's far too dangerous letting them get their hands on nukes. This chapter is not over, not by a long shot.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

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.

At least he did stand up and be counted which cannot be said for some other of his advisors or military leaders, people will hold him accountable but he can only act of information that is fed to him right or wrong

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

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.

This opposition guy lives in Iran!  Seems like he is either very bold and brave or very stupid to criticize that "government".  Reading on Wiki he has been involved in things over there for quite some time

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

A passenger plane shot down heading the wrong way for an incoming attack is a deliberate act of war no mistake its mass state murder???? 

And further evidence that Russia should not sell arms to dumbos who can't tell the difference between an airliner and a war plane.

Somehow, a modified version of the Beach Boys sixties hit, "Barbara Ann" comes to mind...

1 hour ago, Geoffggi said:

At least he did stand up and be counted which cannot be said for some other of his advisors or military leaders, people will hold him accountable but he can only act of information that is fed to him right or wrong

they tried the denial route and suddenly realised they would never get away with it, the damage has already been done

Whats all that (on another thread) about Diplomatic immunity...?

UK ambassador arrested in Tehran

Foreign Secretary statement

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by evadgib

3 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Would be nice if Iran could become a normal country again, after all these years.

MINA!

 

Now that Iran has admitted what happened, why are investigators continuing to investigate. 

5 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

just saying and please don't tell me that America has the interests of the Iranian people at heart because of human rights violations, as America is one of the biggest violators along with it's cronies who join America when pressured. 

Edited 5 hours ago by 4MyEgo

You are right ,

A war between Iran and Iraq was needed at the time and king of Iran would never do that.
 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/10/ayatollah-khomeini-jimmy-carter-administration-iran-revolution
 

but at this moment the only hope for people of Iran is The USA and UK. 

forget France and Germany. they don't care. They are only looking for business and investment in Iran, no matter who rules the country. Actually it is more desirable for them to work with this regime since they can rip-off the people of Iran easily and take natural resources by dealing under table. 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by The Theory

5 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

A passenger plane shot down heading the wrong way for an incoming attack is a deliberate act of war no mistake its mass state murder???? 

Even when it’s America who’s pulling the trigger? Cause you k ow they have done this as well, right.... one difference though, it looks like Iran might have the nutshells to stand up and admit the error.... unlike america.

4 hours ago, Kinnock said:

And further evidence that Russia should not sell arms to dumbos who can't tell the difference between an airliner and a war plane.

And you are  aware that of the American forces killed during the gulf war, a massive 25% of them were killed by other Americans, right? I’m not sure that this is the time to be smug, but if you must, try not to make stupidly a part of it (and.... America still maintains that the commercial airliner it shot down, was a war plane)

8 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

I wonder if Trump sleeps well at night, putting everything else aside.

 

I also wonder why Trump has stepped back now, satisfied that he killed an evil man for the lives of 176 innocent civilians.

 

Iran's business is not my business, just saying and please don't tell me that America has the interests of the Iranian people at heart because of human rights violations, as America is one of the biggest violators along with it's cronies who join America when pressured. 

Very bizarre. I think Trump sleeps very well and rightly has the support of the majority of Americans. Facts: salamani was a terrorist who was imployed by Iran, he was placed on the kill list by Obama (who has far more blood on his hands and fired far more missiles than Trump), who was in Iraq organising terrorists and the attack one being the American embassy which caused the death of an American (where is your condemnation of the Americans murder), he was killed in Iraq and not Iran. Phew! Let us not forget Iran has attacked outside its borders and thousands of peoples blood on their hands. 

5 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

Very bizarre. I think Trump sleeps very well and rightly has the support of the majority of Americans. Facts: salamani was a terrorist who was imployed by Iran, he was placed on the kill list by Obama (who has far more blood on his hands and fired far more missiles than Trump), who was in Iraq organising terrorists and the attack one being the American embassy which caused the death of an American (where is your condemnation of the Americans murder), he was killed in Iraq and not Iran. Phew! Let us not forget Iran has attacked outside its borders and thousands of peoples blood on their hands. 

Let us just remember, no country is perfect, America especially, they are the protector of the world right, just ask George W Bush junior.

7 hours ago, Kinnock said:

And further evidence that Russia should not sell arms to dumbos who can't tell the difference between an airliner and a war plane.

And if the Russian don't sell the Americans will...

4 hours ago, jany123 said:

And you are  aware that of the American forces killed during the gulf war, a massive 25% of them were killed by other Americans, right? I’m not sure that this is the time to be smug, but if you must, try not to make stupidly a part of it (and.... America still maintains that the commercial airliner it shot down, was a war plane)

Oh come on,  you'll break your neck twisting data. 

 

Out of 1 million coalition soldiers, 73% US, facing ~2 million Iraqis there were 111 US enemy combat deaths. 35 US personnel died from accidents and natural causes, and 35 from friendly fire. It was the most astoundingly low casualty level of any major war ever, which destroyed 3300 Iraqi tanks in the biggest tank battle.

 

The normal worldwide death rate rate is ~8000 per million.

US losses were 201 per million.  Stay alive, come fight for the US!

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by rabas

11 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Let's be very clear about this. The only people cheering the Iranian regime are the American left. Everybody else both inside and outside Iran is totally disgusted by the rogue murderous regime. 

Who exactly is cheering the Iranian regime? When? Quotes?

1 hour ago, candide said:

Who exactly is cheering the Iranian regime? When? Quotes?

Codepink?

 

Join Jane Fonda, Oliver Stone, Danny Glover, Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad, Eve Ensler, Mike Farrell, Frances Fisher, Shiva Rose, Matthew Modine, UPPJ, IPS, World Beyond War, Voices for Non Violence and more in reaching out to the Iranian people ....

Open Letter to the People of Iran from the American People

Dear Friends,

We, the undersigned, apologize for Donald Trump’s ....

 

https://www.codepink.org/an_apology_to_the_people_of_iran

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by rabas