Protests erupted across Iran for a second day yesterday, piling pressure on the leadership after the military admitted it had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner at a time when Tehran feared US air strikes.
“They are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” a group of protesters outside a university in Tehran chanted, according to video clips posted on Twitter.
Posts showed other demonstrators outside a second university and a group of protesters marching to Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square. The videos also showed protests in other cities.
Some state-affiliated media carried reports of the university protests, after Saturday’s demonstrations sparked by Iran’s announcement that its military had mistakenly brought down the Ukrainian plane on Wednesday, killing all 176 aboard.
Tehran residents said police were out in force in the capital yesterday. Public anger boiled up following days of denials by the military that it was to blame, issued even as Canada and the US said a missile had brought the plane down.
Riot police fired tear gas on Saturday at thousands of protesters in the capital, where many chanted “Death to the dictator”, directing their anger at the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Apologise and resign,” Iran’s moderate Etemad daily wrote in a banner headline yesterday, saying the “people’s demand” was for those responsible for mishandling the plane crisis to quit.
The latest upsurge in anger adds to public pressure on the authorities, which is struggling to keep the crippled economy afloat under stringent US sanctions.
It launched the bloodiest crackdown in the 40-year history of the Islamic Republic in November after protests against an increase in fuel prices turned political. About 1,500 people were killed in less than two weeks of unrest, three interior ministry officials said, though international rights groups put the figure much lower and Iran rejected the figure.
US President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday: “To the leaders of Iran – Do not kill your protesters. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching.”
The Ukraine International Airlines plane was shot down minutes after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday. Many on board were Iranians with dual citizenship, while 57 were holders of Canadian passports.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the shooting down of the plane was a “disastrous mistake” and apologised. But a top Revolutionary Guards commander added to public fury when he said he had told the authorities on the same day as the crash that an Iranian missile had struck the plane.
The Guards’ top commander, Hossein Salami, said “we are more upset than anyone over the incident”, state media reported. Another commander said Iran did not intend to conceal the cause.
While both Tehran and Washington have backed off from intensifying their conflict, the leader of Lebanon’s heavily armed Hizbollah group called on yesterday for Tehran’s allies to begin working to avenge Soleimani’s killing.
Retaliation would happen in the “coming days, weeks and months”, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech. Iran-allied Hizbollah is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US.
The killing of Soleimani dramatically escalated tensions between Tehran and Washington, following months of hostilities since Trump withdrew from a nuclear pact between Iran and world powers in 2018 and then toughened up sanctions.
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