Iran calls for unity after angry protests over downed plane

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signs a book carrying the names of the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, following a cabinet meeting in Tehran. Picture: HO/IRANIAN PRESIDENCY/AFP

One week on from the disaster, Rouhani called for “national unity” in remarks broadcast live on state television. “If there was a delay” by the armed forces to release information about what happened, “let them apologise”, he said. “In Iran ... people can state their views. Sometimes they state their views in excessive ways, sometimes the reaction is excessive,” he said in New Delhi. “But the fact of the matter is, [over the] last few nights we’ve had people in the streets of Tehran, demonstrating against being lied to for a couple of days.”

Rouhani also said Iranians want “diversity” as he urged the electoral authorities to refrain from disqualifying would-be candidates for a February 21 general election. That would mark a major shift in a country where all candidates are vetted for their loyalty by constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council.

Since then, the US has relentlessly slapped waves of sanctions on Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign. Washington says the campaign is aimed at reining in Tehran’s missile programme as well as its “destabilising behaviour” in the region. Rouhani blamed the Americans and their allies for causing “insecurity” across the Middle East. Their “mistakes”, he said, include Soleimani’s killing, interventions in Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and the US decision to pull out of the nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iranian oil.

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