Thousands of angry Iranians Sunday vented their anger against Iran's theocratic rulers, blasting them as liars for resolutely denying Iranian missiles destroyed Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on January 8. The plane en route from Tehran to Kyiv, capital of Ukraine, was shot down in the vicinity of Tehran by two Iranian missiles killing all 176 persons aboard.
The loud protests, which are now on their second day, was again led by students who marched to Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square. There were also loud street protests in other Iranian cities all denouncing Iran's religious leadership for deceiving them.
In contrast, the protests on Saturday took place outside at least three universities in Tehran: Sharif University of Technology (Iran's leading institution for engineering and physical science); Amirkabir University of Technology (a leading public research university) and Shahid Beheshti University (one of Iran's most renowned and prestigious universities). Students and other members of the public initially gathered outside both universities to initially pay respect to the victims of PS752.
The mourning, however, turned to anger in the evening with protestors yelling anti-government slogans and ripping-up pictures of major general Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated January 3 in Iraq on orders of president Donald Trump. Some protestors shouted "Death to liars!" in reference to top Iranian government officials that first denied Iran had shot down the Ukrainian plane.
Iran later changed its story and took responsibility for "unintentionally" shooting down the plane. It admitted culpability only after incontrovertible technical evidence presented by the U.S Canada, the United Kingdom and Iraq all confirmed an Iranian surface-to-air missile (SAM) battery had tracked and destroyed the plane with two Russian-made SAMs.
For three days, Iran's religious rulers denied reports missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) destroyed the plane. A spokesman criticized Western nations of "lying and engaging in psychological warfare".
On Saturday morning, however, a statement on state TV admitted the plane was indeed shot down "unintentionally" by Iran. IRGC aerospace commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility for the shoot down. He said a missile operator acted independently and alone. He mistook the passenger jet for a cruise missile and launched the SAMs at the plane.
"When I confirmed what had happened, I really wished I could die myself," said Gen. Hajizadeh.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said Iranian police dispersed the protesters on Saturday. Police also fired tear gas at the crowd. Iranian social media users slammed the government led by supreme leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei for covering-up its role in the destruction of the airliner. Protestors demanded Khamenei's resignation. Most of the passengers aboard the plane were Iranians.
The country's leaders portrayed Soleimani as a war hero who led Iran's successful campaign to defeat ISIS. Iran said over a million Iranians showed-up for Soleimani's nationwide funeral processions last week. Soleimani was buried January 7 in his home village of Qanat-e Malek in Kerman Province.
The Americans, however, considered Soleimani a murderer whose actions led to the deaths of hundreds of U.S. soldiers during the American invasion of Iraq and the resulting Iraq War that began in 2003.
