Iran's judiciary body said on Tuesday that it has taken into custody several people for playing a role in the tragic crash of the Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 jet wherein all 176 passengers were killed.
According to CNBC, Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili revealed that some people were arrested in line with the probe on how the military made a mistake in downing the said jet.
No details are available just yet regarding the arrests that were made but some analysts said the announcement could have been made amid ongoing unrest and mass protesting in Tehran streets.
Since Saturday, protesters have been crowding in the streets, calling for the current administration to step down due to the "mistake" of shooting down a passenger jet amid tensions with the United States.
Some experts pointed out that the Iranian government had tendencies to shift the attention on Washington. While the White House did spark diplomatic tensions with Iran days earlier, it could not be held responsible for the tragedy that took the lives of Iranians and other nationalities alike.
According to CNN, protesters have called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down; adding that the people who made the accident happen should be brought before the law.
It remains to be seen whether the government will reveal more details about the arrests made on Tuesday as part of the probe that would hopefully provide more answers to the masses.
Meanwhile, Tehran reiterated on local television on Monday that there were no lies in its initial statement regarding the downing of the Ukraine Airlines' Boeing plane.
According to Aljazeera, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a statement aired on state television that accusations of a "cover-up" were not true. "The point is that we did not lie," he said.
Despite Ali's statements, public outrage has been rife in the country after Tehran admitted on Friday that a missile from the Iranian military mistakenly downed the passenger jet that boarded mostly Iranians.
Some of the victims were also from Canada, Afghanistan, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Ukraine, and Germany. Ottawa, for its part, has been calling for transparency amid investigations on the tragedy.
It is also worth noting that the downing of the Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 jet happened hours after Iran launched an airstrike on two Iraqi bases where U.S. troops were being housed.
The said missile attacks are said to have been in retaliation for the death of top Iranian military leader, Qasem Soleimani days earlier. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the airstrike that killed the General, who was accused by the White House of planning attacks on U.S. sites.
While protests have been running amid calls to avenge Soleimani's death further, the anger has been shifted on Tehran following its admission regarding the downed passenger jet.
