Protests across country as media outlets join outcry at shooting down of Ukrainian jet
Michael Safi @safimichael The Guardian, Sun 12 Jan 2020
Iranians students protest on Saturday following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines aeroplane mistakenly shot down. Photograph: Rouzbeh Fouladi/Zuma/Rex
Riot police have been deployed in parts of Tehran after tear gas was used to clear the streets of protesters angry at the government’s admission it had mistakenly shot down a passenger jet killing all 176 people on board.
Images of dozens of demonstrators taking to the streets in the capital and other cities including Isfahan were circulating on social media as activists called for mass mourning rallies, raising the possibility of fresh clashes between protesters and security forces.
Pro-regime protesters also gathered outside the UK embassy calling for its closure after the British ambassador to Iran was briefly detained on Saturday evening after leaving the site of a demonstration.
Several Iranian media outlets on Sunday joined a chorus of domestic and international criticism at both the shooting down of the airliner on Wednesday morning and the subsequent days of official denials that an Iranian missile was responsible.
Footage from the Iranian capital showed police in riot gear and on motorcycles massed in public squares and lining the entrances to the University of Tehran, one of the sites where hundreds turned out for protests on Saturday night chanting for prosecutions and a referendum on the country’s theocratic system.
A clip purportedly shot on Sunday morning at Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran showed a small group of students chanting slogans against the country’s state-run media outlets. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified.
“They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” said protesters outside a university in Tehran in another clip cited by Reuters. Mourning events were held at several universities across the city.
Play Video Anti-government protests in Tehran after Iran admits it shot down Ukrainian jet – video
Student protests are not unusual in Iran but these latest come at a period of extraordinary tumult for the Islamic Republic, with an economy suffocated by US sanctions, the largest protests in the regime’s history put down by violent force in November, and the revelation that the country’s armed forces shot down a jet loaded with Iranian citizens – then lied about it.
The rage at the incident appears to have wiped away the nationalist wave the regime was attempting to ride after the killing of General Qassem Suleimani by a US drone strike nine days ago, and the catharsis it sought to deliver with a heavily publicised ballistic missile attack on US forces stationed in Iraq.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the UK ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, to explain what he was doing near the site of a protest when he was arrested the previous evening.
Macaire, who was released shortly after Iranian diplomatic officials learned of his arrest, tweeted that he had attended what was advertised as a vigil, left as it began to turn into a protest and was detained half-an-hour later. The Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported on Sunday that Macaire had been using a shop near the protests as a place of “coordination”.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, condemned the ambassador’s arrest as a “flagrant violation of international law” and said Iran was marching towards “pariah status”.
In a series of tweets in English and Farsi, the US president Donald Trump said he was monitoring demonstrations in the country and voiced his support – sentiments that analysts have said are unlikely to win the protesters favours.
“To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you,” he tweeted. “There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.”
After days of denials, Iranian officials on Saturday morning admitted to shooting down the Ukrain International Airlines jet, a few hours after firing missiles at US forces stationed in Iraq and while the country’s air defences were on high alert for reprisals.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families,” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said.
After the missile operation in Iraq, US military flights around Iranian borders increased and Iranian military officials reported seeing aerial targets coming toward strategic centres, a statement by Iranian armed forces headquarters said.
“The aircraft came close to a sensitive IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] military centre at an altitude and flight condition that resembled hostile targeting,” the statement said. “Under these circumstances, the aircraft was unintentionally hit, which unfortunately resulted in the death of many Iranian and foreign nationals.”
The victims include 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals.
‘Apologise and resign’: Teargas fired as anti-government protests grip Iran after plane crash cover-up
Officials will fear resurgence of widespread unrest that rocked country in months before Soleimani’s killing
Andy Gregory
Pressure continues to pile on the Iranian regime as furious anti-government protesters take to the streets for a second day and newspapers join the calls for justice over the military’s “unintentional” shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet.
Thousands of protesters braved the threat of violent repression or incarceration amid a heavy riot police presence in several cities, many demanding the resignation of president Hassan Rouhani and criticising Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with chants of “death to the dictator” – an offence reportedly punishable by execution.
In Tehran, vast crowds overcame authorities’ efforts to block off Azadi (Freedom) Square. Security forces later resorted to tear gassing those assembled there. Some violence broke out in the square as special forces and militia members attacked protesters and fired rubber bullets, witnesses told the New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi.
Their fury was further amplified on Sunday as Iran’s moderate daily newspaper Etemad ran a headline saying those responsible for the plane crash – which killed 176 people – and the subsequent cover-up, should “apologise and resign”. The paper called this “the people’s demand”.
The tragic incident, and the regime’s handling of it, appears to have subdued the outpouring of national unity which followed the Trump-ordered assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani.
Iran plane crash: Tehran admits accidentally shooting Boeing 737
Show all 25
In contrast to the anti-US sentiment displayed during Soleimani’s vast memorial proceedings, social media footage showed protesters taking pains not to step on American and Israeli flags painted on a walkway, with others chanting: “Our enemy is right here, they are lying that it’s America.”
Iranian officials will fear a resurgence of the widespread protests that raged in the months before Soleimani’s killing, thought to be the largest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Sparked by opposition to a fuel price hike amid dangerously punitive US sanctions, the protests grew into a major revolt against corruption, poverty and the regime’s incorrigible nature.
The government’s brutal attempts at repression are believed to have taken the lives of between 300 and 1,500 people, but an internet shutdown obscured much about the protests, including their death toll.
Watch more
Riot police have been deployed in parts of Tehran after tear gas was used to clear the streets of protesters angry at the government’s admission it had mistakenly shot down a passenger jet killing all 176 people on board.
Images of dozens of demonstrators taking to the streets in the capital and other cities including Isfahan were circulating on social media as activists called for mass mourning rallies, raising the possibility of fresh clashes between protesters and security forces.
Pro-regime protesters also gathered outside the UK embassy calling for its closure after the British ambassador to Iran was briefly detained on Saturday evening after leaving the site of a demonstration.
Several Iranian media outlets on Sunday joined a chorus of domestic and international criticism at both the shooting down of the airliner on Wednesday morning and the subsequent days of official denials that an Iranian missile was responsible.
Footage from the Iranian capital showed police in riot gear and on motorcycles massed in public squares and lining the entrances to the University of Tehran, one of the sites where hundreds turned out for protests on Saturday night chanting for prosecutions and a referendum on the country’s theocratic system.
A clip purportedly shot on Sunday morning at Allameh Tabataba’i University in Tehran showed a small group of students chanting slogans against the country’s state-run media outlets. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified.
“They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” said protesters outside a university in Tehran in another clip cited by Reuters. Mourning events were held at several universities across the city.
Play Video Anti-government protests in Tehran after Iran admits it shot down Ukrainian jet – video
Student protests are not unusual in Iran but these latest come at a period of extraordinary tumult for the Islamic Republic, with an economy suffocated by US sanctions, the largest protests in the regime’s history put down by violent force in November, and the revelation that the country’s armed forces shot down a jet loaded with Iranian citizens – then lied about it.
The rage at the incident appears to have wiped away the nationalist wave the regime was attempting to ride after the killing of General Qassem Suleimani by a US drone strike nine days ago, and the catharsis it sought to deliver with a heavily publicised ballistic missile attack on US forces stationed in Iraq.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday summoned the UK ambassador to Tehran, Rob Macaire, to explain what he was doing near the site of a protest when he was arrested the previous evening.
Macaire, who was released shortly after Iranian diplomatic officials learned of his arrest, tweeted that he had attended what was advertised as a vigil, left as it began to turn into a protest and was detained half-an-hour later. The Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported on Sunday that Macaire had been using a shop near the protests as a place of “coordination”.
The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, condemned the ambassador’s arrest as a “flagrant violation of international law” and said Iran was marching towards “pariah status”.
In a series of tweets in English and Farsi, the US president Donald Trump said he was monitoring demonstrations in the country and voiced his support – sentiments that analysts have said are unlikely to win the protesters favours.
“To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you,” he tweeted. “There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.”
After days of denials, Iranian officials on Saturday morning admitted to shooting down the Ukrain International Airlines jet, a few hours after firing missiles at US forces stationed in Iraq and while the country’s air defences were on high alert for reprisals.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets this disastrous mistake. My thoughts and prayers go to all the mourning families,” Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said.
After the missile operation in Iraq, US military flights around Iranian borders increased and Iranian military officials reported seeing aerial targets coming toward strategic centres, a statement by Iranian armed forces headquarters said.
“The aircraft came close to a sensitive IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] military centre at an altitude and flight condition that resembled hostile targeting,” the statement said. “Under these circumstances, the aircraft was unintentionally hit, which unfortunately resulted in the death of many Iranian and foreign nationals.”
The victims include 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three British nationals.
---30---
‘Apologise and resign’: Teargas fired as anti-government protests grip Iran after plane crash cover-up
Officials will fear resurgence of widespread unrest that rocked country in months before Soleimani’s killing
Andy Gregory
Pressure continues to pile on the Iranian regime as furious anti-government protesters take to the streets for a second day and newspapers join the calls for justice over the military’s “unintentional” shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet.
Thousands of protesters braved the threat of violent repression or incarceration amid a heavy riot police presence in several cities, many demanding the resignation of president Hassan Rouhani and criticising Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with chants of “death to the dictator” – an offence reportedly punishable by execution.
In Tehran, vast crowds overcame authorities’ efforts to block off Azadi (Freedom) Square. Security forces later resorted to tear gassing those assembled there. Some violence broke out in the square as special forces and militia members attacked protesters and fired rubber bullets, witnesses told the New York Times’ Farnaz Fassihi.
Their fury was further amplified on Sunday as Iran’s moderate daily newspaper Etemad ran a headline saying those responsible for the plane crash – which killed 176 people – and the subsequent cover-up, should “apologise and resign”. The paper called this “the people’s demand”.
The tragic incident, and the regime’s handling of it, appears to have subdued the outpouring of national unity which followed the Trump-ordered assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani.
Iran plane crash: Tehran admits accidentally shooting Boeing 737
Show all 25
In contrast to the anti-US sentiment displayed during Soleimani’s vast memorial proceedings, social media footage showed protesters taking pains not to step on American and Israeli flags painted on a walkway, with others chanting: “Our enemy is right here, they are lying that it’s America.”
Iranian officials will fear a resurgence of the widespread protests that raged in the months before Soleimani’s killing, thought to be the largest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Sparked by opposition to a fuel price hike amid dangerously punitive US sanctions, the protests grew into a major revolt against corruption, poverty and the regime’s incorrigible nature.
The government’s brutal attempts at repression are believed to have taken the lives of between 300 and 1,500 people, but an internet shutdown obscured much about the protests, including their death toll.
Watch more
Iran has no choice but to de-escalate its campaign of revenge – now
Shame on you’: Iranians and world leaders react to Tehran’s admission
On Sunday morning, despite only numbering in their hundreds, dissidents gathered at university campuses in several cities, including Isfahan, while calls circulated for larger protests later in the day.
In addition to black-suited riot police, Revolutionary Guard members patrolled the capital on motorbikes in an apparent effort to deter the sizeable protests that would eventually emerge, while plain-clothes security forces also monitored the streets.
The demonstrators’ efforts and bravery were lauded by Donald Trump, who launched a brazen attempt to paint himself as an ally of the Iranian people – and further undermine the country’s leadership – days after pushing the country to the brink of conflict and threatening to commit war crimes by destroying Iranian cultural sites.
“I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my presidency, and my administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage,” Mr Trump tweeted in Farsi.
“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.”
While his call for human rights to be observed were welcomed, the US president was also accused of gross hypocrisy.
“Only on planet Trump can you ban Iranians from visiting their family in the US, deny them access to life-saving drugs, threaten to bomb their cultural heritage, and then claim that you are in solidarity with them,” said London School of Economics’ Rohan Alvandi, an associate professor of international history specialising in Iran.
Trump’s defence secretary Mark Esper admits he ‘didn’t see’ evidence of imminent threat from Iran
Meanwhile, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, apologised profusely for his forces shooting down Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, saying: “I have never been so ashamed in my life.
“I would have liked to have been in that plane and to have crashed and burned with them rather than bear witness to this tragic event.”
The country’s supreme leader blamed the region’s turbulence on the US, and urged greater cooperation between Middle Eastern nations as “the only way to deal with it”.
“The reason for the current turbulent situation in our region is the corruptive presence of the US and its cohorts,” Mr Khamenei told Qatar’s visiting ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “The only way to confront this is to depend on cooperation within the region.”
It came hours after US defence secretary Mark Esper admitted he “didn’t see” the evidence of imminent threats to four US embassies claimed by Mr Trump as justification for killing Soleimani.
European leaders sustained their efforts to contain the fallout from Soleimani's killing on Sunday, with Boris Johnson, France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel issuing a joint statement urging Iran to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
However, the protests in Tehran also inadvertently saw UK-Iranian relations take a sour turn, after the British ambassador Rob Macaire was briefly arrested at the protests on Saturday, which began as a vigil.
The UK said its envoy was detained “without grounds or explanation” and in “flagrant violation of international law”.
Condemning the arrest, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said Iran “can continue its march towards pariah status ... or take steps to de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards”.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi later tweeted that Mr Macaire was arrested “as an unknown foreigner in an illegal gathering” and was released when authorities realised who he was.
A member of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, accused the ambassador of organising protests and called for his expulsion.
A small group of Iranians later gathered outside the British Embassy, chanting “death to England” and calling for the ambassador’s expulsion and the embassy’s closure. Police stood guard outside the facility.
Iranian media, meanwhile, focused on the regime’s admission of responsibility for the crash, with several newspapers calling for those responsible to apologise and resign.
The hardline daily Vatan-e Emrooz bore the front-page headline ”A sky full of sadness”, while the Hamshahri daily went with “Shame”, and the Iran daily said “Unforgivable.”
Shame on you’: Iranians and world leaders react to Tehran’s admission
On Sunday morning, despite only numbering in their hundreds, dissidents gathered at university campuses in several cities, including Isfahan, while calls circulated for larger protests later in the day.
In addition to black-suited riot police, Revolutionary Guard members patrolled the capital on motorbikes in an apparent effort to deter the sizeable protests that would eventually emerge, while plain-clothes security forces also monitored the streets.
The demonstrators’ efforts and bravery were lauded by Donald Trump, who launched a brazen attempt to paint himself as an ally of the Iranian people – and further undermine the country’s leadership – days after pushing the country to the brink of conflict and threatening to commit war crimes by destroying Iranian cultural sites.
“I’ve stood with you since the beginning of my presidency, and my administration will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage,” Mr Trump tweeted in Farsi.
“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.”
While his call for human rights to be observed were welcomed, the US president was also accused of gross hypocrisy.
“Only on planet Trump can you ban Iranians from visiting their family in the US, deny them access to life-saving drugs, threaten to bomb their cultural heritage, and then claim that you are in solidarity with them,” said London School of Economics’ Rohan Alvandi, an associate professor of international history specialising in Iran.
Trump’s defence secretary Mark Esper admits he ‘didn’t see’ evidence of imminent threat from Iran
Meanwhile, the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, apologised profusely for his forces shooting down Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, saying: “I have never been so ashamed in my life.
“I would have liked to have been in that plane and to have crashed and burned with them rather than bear witness to this tragic event.”
The country’s supreme leader blamed the region’s turbulence on the US, and urged greater cooperation between Middle Eastern nations as “the only way to deal with it”.
“The reason for the current turbulent situation in our region is the corruptive presence of the US and its cohorts,” Mr Khamenei told Qatar’s visiting ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “The only way to confront this is to depend on cooperation within the region.”
It came hours after US defence secretary Mark Esper admitted he “didn’t see” the evidence of imminent threats to four US embassies claimed by Mr Trump as justification for killing Soleimani.
European leaders sustained their efforts to contain the fallout from Soleimani's killing on Sunday, with Boris Johnson, France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Angela Merkel issuing a joint statement urging Iran to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
However, the protests in Tehran also inadvertently saw UK-Iranian relations take a sour turn, after the British ambassador Rob Macaire was briefly arrested at the protests on Saturday, which began as a vigil.
The UK said its envoy was detained “without grounds or explanation” and in “flagrant violation of international law”.
Condemning the arrest, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said Iran “can continue its march towards pariah status ... or take steps to de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards”.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi later tweeted that Mr Macaire was arrested “as an unknown foreigner in an illegal gathering” and was released when authorities realised who he was.
A member of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, accused the ambassador of organising protests and called for his expulsion.
A small group of Iranians later gathered outside the British Embassy, chanting “death to England” and calling for the ambassador’s expulsion and the embassy’s closure. Police stood guard outside the facility.
Iranian media, meanwhile, focused on the regime’s admission of responsibility for the crash, with several newspapers calling for those responsible to apologise and resign.
The hardline daily Vatan-e Emrooz bore the front-page headline ”A sky full of sadness”, while the Hamshahri daily went with “Shame”, and the Iran daily said “Unforgivable.”
---30---
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