Protests erupted across Iran after Iranian officials admitted they had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane that had taken off from Tehran hours after Iran launched missiles at US bases in Iraq.
President Hassan Rouhani issued a Jan. 11 statement saying the Jan. 8 Ukraine International Airlines crash, which killed 176 people, was due to “human error,” adding that it was “unforgivable.” He ordered all of the relevant agencies to compensate the families of the victims and said investigations would continue, adding, “This painful event is not an issue that we can painfully put to the side.”
After Iranian officially accepted responsibility, protests erupted at Amir Kabir University in Tehran. Security forces eventually arrived and shot tear gas into the crowds. Many of the protesters chanted anti-government slogans against both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chants that had been heard during the November protests that were sparked by cuts in fuel subsidies.
British Ambassador Robert Macaire was briefly detained Jan. 11 as a result of the Amir Kabir protest. After his release, he tweeted in Persian that he had attended a vigil for the plane crash victims and that as soon as people started chanting anti-government slogans he left. He added that he was detained 30 minutes after he had left the protests.
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