Iranians React With Anger After Tehran Admits Downing Ukrainian Plane By Mistake

Iran's admission that it was responsible for the January 8 downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet, which killed all 176 people on board including many Iranians and Iranian-Canadian citizens, has led to anger and accusations of recklessness and incompetency against the country's leaders.

A January 11 Iranian military statement said the Ukraine International Airlines flight was mistaken for a "hostile target" after it turned toward a "sensitive military center" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The military was at its "highest level of readiness," it said, amid the heightened tensions with the United States.

Tehran's admission of guilt could undermine the massive display of unity at the multi-city funeral of top Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States on January 3, and which the Iranian authorities claimed sparked a revival of the 1979 revolution.

On January 11, amateur video posted on social media showed protesters gathered outside Tehran's Amir Kabir university chanting "dishonorable," an apparent reference to Iranian leaders, while calling for justice over the shooting down of the plane.

"Resignation is not enough," angry protesters chanted. "A trial is necessary."

Some Iranians have asked why planes were allowed to fly over the Iranian capital hours after Iran launched a missile attack on two military bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq, which could have prompted retaliatory action by the United States.

Lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said authorities should have suspended civilian flights due to the "war conditions" the country faces. "We’ve seen in various wars that when the smallest missile is fired, airports are immediately put on standby and flights suspended," he was quoted as saying on January 11 by Iranian media.