Under pressure, Iran admits it shot down jetliner by mistake
On Saturday, hours after Iranian officials admitted responsibility for the deaths of 176 people who were aboard the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran earlier in the week, protesters took to the streets across several cities in Iran, citing outrage over the fact that such a ghastly mistake was made.
“This is an unprecedented moment in the history of the Islamic Republic. Traditionally it uses external threats to create national unity and push away dissent,” said Milad Odabaei, a scholar of Iran at the Montreal-based McGill University. “Now, [Iran] has to play a tightrope, and is unable to gain the trust of the public and gather legitimacy. It’s ability to draw on international hostility to create a national front is radically limited.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the crash investigation should continue and the “perpetrators” should be brought to justice. He said Iran should compensate victims’ families, and he requested “official apologies through diplomatic channels.” On Saturday, after Heshemi finished protesting and went home, she still felt shaken up but said it helped to express her emotions.According to the New York-based nonprofit Center for Human Rights in Iran, at least 304 people, including 12 children, were killed during the unrest that shook Iran in November . The group also said that up to 7,000 protesters were arrested.
For Bita Nejati, a manager at Mehrafarin — a charity that focuses on youth, homelessness and mental health — news that Iran was responsible for the deaths of the 176 passengers aboard the plane was difficult to digest. Many Iranians, such as Nejati, had already been expressing disappoint behind closed doors at the Islamic Republic over its handling of the economic problems .“Life is very expensive.
“We had not finished mourning the martyrs of last fall and now we are confronted with the loss of those who were killed during the burial of Suleimani in Kerman and those who were killed in the plane crash. Today eveil has surrounded us from every direction,” the statement said. “In the cacophony of military threats, the voices that demand freedom and equality expressed these demands clearly in their protests last fall. It is upon us to target the totality of oppression.
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Iran Rejects Claims That It Shot Down Ukrainian AirlinerI am a breaking news reporter for Forbes in London, covering Europe and the U.S. Previously I was a news reporter for HuffPost UK, the Press Association and a night reporter at the Guardian. I studied Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics, where I was a writer and editor for one of the university’s global affairs magazines, the London Globalist. That led me to Goldsmiths, University of London, where I completed my M.A. in Journalism. Got a story? Get in touch at isabel.togohforbes.com, or follow me on Twitter bissieness. I look forward to hearing from you.
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