On January 8, a Ukrainian commercial airline carrying 176 passengers crashed, killing everyone aboard, including 130 Iranians. After blaming the crash on “technical issues,” video taken of the crash showed the plane was shot down by missiles. Iran finally admitted today that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was responsible for shooting down the commercial flight.
Iran's admission of shooting down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 aboard, has provoked international outrage. Canadian PM Trudeau demanded 'accountability, justice, and closure that the families deserve,' while Ukraine also demanded compensation https://t.co/yBrAtaSlLz pic.twitter.com/C82Sg8gWvf
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 12, 2020
According to the Daily Mail – For days, Iran vehemently denied that it was responsible for downing Flight 752 from Tehran to Kyiv on January 8, accusing the U.S. of spreading malicious propaganda and lies for suggesting such a scenario.
Hajizadeh claimed that the country’s top military leaders were not initially aware that their own air defense system had shot the plan down, leading to confusion. Now the country has come clean but still blames ‘US adventurism’ for the fatal ‘error’.
Today, Iran arrested Britain’s ambassador, accusing him of inciting riots.
Diplomat Rob Macaire was present during demonstrations against Ayatollah Khamenei in front of Tehran’s Amir Kabir University and was arrested after allegedly ‘organizing, provoking and directing radical actions’, according to local reports.
Thousands had gathered to demand the supreme leader’s resignation after his regime admitted it had mistakenly shot down a civilian passenger plane during retaliation against the US’ assassination of Qasem Soleimani.
Mr. Macaire, a diplomat with 30 years of experience, was released following more than an hour in detention.
In a strongly-worded statement, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned Iran that it needed to make a choice between becoming a ‘pariah’ state or to ‘deescalate tensions’ with the west.
‘The arrest of our Ambassador in Tehran without grounds or explanation is a flagrant violation of international law. The Iranian government is at a cross-roads moment,’ said Mr.Raab.
President Trump tweeted his support in Farsi language for the pro-freedom Iranian protesters.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1216114135529902081?s=20
In a follow- up tweet, President Trump warned Iran that the world is watching how they treat their citizens who dare to protest the iron-fisted government.
The Iranian government should allow human rights groups to monitor and report on the current reality of protests in the Iranian people. We should not see the peaceful killing of protesters again or the Internet shut down. The world is watching.
Angry crowds gathered in at least four locations across Tehran tonight, chanting ‘death to liars’ and calling for the country’s supreme leader to step down over the tragic military blunder, video from the scene shows.
Watch:
What began as mournful vigils for Iranian lives lost on the flight soon turned to outrage and protest against the regime, and riot police quickly cracked down, firing tear gas into the crowd.
‘Death to the Islamic Republic’ protesters chanted, as the regime’s security forces allegedly used ambulances to sneak heavily armed paramilitary police into the middle of crowds to disperse the demonstration.
Mike Doran tweeted two videos and wrote: Protestors tonight in Tehran, chanting, “Reformists, fundamentalists, you’re time is up!” In other words, the factions inside the regime are just different components of the same corrupt system,” and “Khamenei is a murderer” chanted in Isfahan
https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1216101558959722496?s=20
On Saturday afternoon, candlelight vigils at universities in Tehran for the victims of Flight 752 began to turn to protests against the regime. Large protests were reported at the universities of Tehran, Sharif Industrial, Amir Kabir, and Allameh.
At Amirkabir University, protesters chanted ‘Down with the dictator’ and ‘shame on IRGC [Revolutionary Guard], let the country go.’
At Sharif University, crowds of outraged Iranians chanted ‘commander in chief, resign!’ The Ayatollah is Iran’s commander in chief.
‘Our enemy is right here; They lie when they say it’s the US’ protesters were heard chanting in one video.
https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1216169335682715648?s=20
‘I now believe the word of the Great Satan,’ one protester wrote in Persian on Twitter, apparently referring to the U.S. intelligence reports that blamed Iran for shooting the plane down, which the regime furiously denied at first.
‘The protest by thousands of Iranians in Tehran burst the propaganda balloon of the regime regarding Qassem Soleimani’s elimination,’ said Shahin Gobadi, spokesman of the anti-regime group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, in a statement to DailyMail.com.
Gobadi said that the protests ‘showed the true sentiments of the Iranians and once again clearly proved that Iran is a powder keg and the Iranian people will not stop until the regime change.’
Iconic photo from today's anti-regime protests in Iran: A brave woman challenges the riot police.
Iranians take to the streets again tonight to protest the downing of a civilian airplane by the regime.
People are furious & they're NOT rallying around the flag for #Soleimani. pic.twitter.com/z7gZcVzAr5
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 12, 2020
“Play the Trump Card” responded to President Trump’s tweet by tweeted that the Iranian people have a greater destiny than to be known as “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.”
The Iranian people have a greater destiny than to be known as residents of the world's leading sponsor of terrorism!#IranProtests
— PlayTheTrumpCard ⚡️ Legal Votes Only Please (@PlaysTrumpCard) January 11, 2020
The Bradford File tweeted that Iranians prefer <strong>dead terrorists </strong>over Obama’s <strong>pallets of cash.</strong>
It appears the Iranian people prefer dead terrorists over pallets of cash.
Obama was celebrated for keeping the status quo.
Trump is vilified for taking bold risks for freedom.
I'm with Trump.
— thebradfordfile™ (@thebradfordfile) January 11, 2020
Has Iran reached a tipping point? Will Iran be able to shut down tens of thousands of protesters who are railing against their brutal and oppressive regime?