13 Jan 2020

Protests after Iran admits it shot down a passenger plane

From Summer Report, 7:35 am on 13 January 2020

Iranians are furious after revelations their military shot down a Ukrainian airplane, killing all 176 passengers and crew.

Protests erupted after Saturday's admission that the military had accidentally shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane minutes after take off on Wednesday, believing it was a cruise missile.

It happened just hours after Iranian missiles struck air bases housing American forces in Iraq, in retaliation for the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last week.

For days, Iranian officials had vigorously denied it was to blame, even as Canada, which had 57 citizens on the flight, and the United States said their intelligence indicated an Iranian missile was to blame, albeit probably fired in error.

The BBC's Kasra Naji spoke to Leigh-Marama McLachlan.