After refusing for days to take responsibility for the missile strike that took Ukrainian Flight 752 down, Iran finally admitted that they shot the Boeing 737 down with an SA-15 anti-ballistic missile. They attributed the tragedy that killed 176 people to operator error, but they are still placing blame on the US, too.
The victims of Flight 752 hailed from seven different countries including Iran. The passenger count was Iran 82, Canada 63, Ukraine 11, Sweden 10, Afghanistan 4, UK 3, Germany 3
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the missile strike was an unforgivable mistake and that Iran would improve its defense systems to avoid such accidents.
According to the Washington Examiner, "The accident occurred while the Iranian military was on high alert and while Tehran neglected to ground civilian flights that night, a Western intelligence official told the Washington Examiner."
Even after having to finally admit that the missile strike was their fault, Iran is blaming the US for the accident. Iranian Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif cited "human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster."
But Iranians are blaming Khameinei's government and the IRGC. They are furious and have poured into the streets to protest the fatal mistake. They hold the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for the deaths of 176 people, and are demanding to know why all planes weren't grounded while Iran was attacking Iraq. They want Khameinei out.
#BREAKING: Iranian protesters in several areas of Tehran demand supreme leader khamenei quits after tehran admits shooting down Ukrainian planepic.twitter.com/9w52fvZdkD
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) January 11, 2020
President Trump has been monitoring the protests in Iran. He warned the Iranian government not to shut down the internet or harm the protestors. He warned that the world is watching what they do.
Allow human beings to monitor and report on the current reality of protests in Iran. We should not see the peaceful killing of protesters again or the Internet shut down. The world is watching.
— President_Trump💭 (@Potus__Trump) January 12, 2020