Hours after the Islamic Republic’s officials were forced to confess that the Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down as a result of the IRGC’s missile fire, protesting crowds took to the streets and chanted slogans in several locations including outside Amirkabir University and Sharif University against the Islamic Republic’s leader, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and other officials.
Reports and videos received by Voice of America and reports published on social media indicate large gatherings of protesters and attacks by security and police forces on the demonstrators.
The main slogans were against the Islamic Republic’s leader and the IRGC, and called for the trial and resignation of Iran’s regime officials.
The Islamic Republic of Iran today, after several days of denial, finally announced due to international pressure that the downing of the Ukrainian passenger plane, which resulted in the deaths of 176 people, was due to “human error” and was carried out by the “unintentional” firing of a missile by the IRGC.
Two days earlier, the United States had announced that this passenger plane was shot down by Iran.
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, on Thursday, December 19, calling the incident of the Ukrainian plane crash in Iran a “tragedy,” said: “I have doubts and uncertainties as well. It is a very painful incident. There have been expressions of doubt about this crash. Perhaps someone made a mistake there.”
Following the U.S. President’s remarks, American intelligence sources announced that there is evidence that this plane was shot down by Iran.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic issued a statement claiming that because the Ukrainian plane had approached a “sensitive military center” of the IRGC while “turning,” it was targeted “as a result of human error and unintentionally.” In its statement, this body announced that IRGC officials would explain the matter to the people.
At dawn on Wednesday, December 18, a Boeing 737 Ukrainian aircraft crashed minutes after takeoff from Imam Khomeini Airport bound for Kyiv near the city of Parand in Tehran province with 176 passengers on board. This incident occurred only hours after Iran’s missile attack on American positions in Iraq, which according to IRGC officials, was in retaliation for the killing of Qasem Soleimani by the United States. At the same time, the Associated Press reported that Ukraine, despite Iran’s denials, considered a missile attack or terrorism as one of the possible theories for the occurrence of this tragedy.
Source: Voice of America
