Raising ire, Iran admits it hit plane
Reversal of days of denials sparks furor at home and abroad
KYIV, Ukraine— Iran’s admission that its forces errantly downed a Ukrainian jetliner — reversing three days of denial — did little to quell growing fury inside the country and beyond on Saturday as the deadly tragedy turned into a volatile political crisis for Tehran’s leaders and overshadowed their struggle with the United States.
Ukrainian officials criticized Iran’s conduct, suggesting that the Iranians would not have admitted responsibility if investigators from Ukraine had not found evidence of a missile strike in the wreckage of the crash, which killed all 176 people aboard.
Protests erupted in Tehran and other Iranian cities as dumbfounded citizens found a new reason to mistrust Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and other officials. Protest videos showed some shouting “Khamenei is a murderer!” and antiriot police tear-gassing violent demonstrators.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine, in his first reaction to Iran’s announcement, said his
country would “insist on a full admission of guilt” by Tehran.
Contradictions and miscues complicated Iran’s message even as it took responsibility for the disaster. Iran’s military, in its initial admission Saturday, said the flight crew had taken a sharp turn that brought it near a military base — an assertion disputed by the Ukrainians.
Hours later, an Iranian commander agreed that the Ukrainians were right.
“If there was a mistake, it was made by one of our members,” said the commander, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who leads the airspace unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, as he accepted full responsibility for the disaster.
Within Iran, citizens vented anger toward their government after the admission.
“Death to liars!” and “Death to the dictator!” shouted Iranians gathered in squares in the capital Tehran, videos shared on social media showed. “You have no shame!” shouted several men, and the crowd joined in a chorus.
Iranians who a few days earlier were united in outraged grief over the U.S. killing of a storied Revolutionary Guard leader, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, were once again out en masse protesting their government. Many protesters carried candles and placed flowers at the gates of the universities and other public places in Tehran. Conservatives and supporters of the government accused the authorities of having misled the public about what had brought down the plane. Its passengers included many young Iranians on their way to Canada for graduate study.
The criticism of Iran over the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 now threatens to eclipse whatever international sympathy Iran has garnered in its escalating confrontation with the Trump administration, which has faced widespread criticism over stoking a violent confrontation with Iran’s leaders.
In Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an Iran critic who was among the first U.S. officials to accuse the country of shooting down the Ukrainian jetliner, posted a message on Twitter that alluded to the outrage in Iran on Saturday.
“The voice of the Iranian people is clear,” Pompeo wrote. “They are fed up with the regime’s lies, corruption, ineptitude and brutality.”
The official reaction from Iran was a mix of contrition and suggestions that the tragedy should be viewed as a consequence of U.S. hostility.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, wrote that “Human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the error an “unforgivable mistake.” In a statement cited by the Fars News Agency, he offered condolences to the victims’ families and said that “the terrible catastrophe should be thoroughly investigated.”
Rouhani spoke Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, an unusual event given that Canada severed diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012. After the call, Trudeau said Iran’s acknowledgment was a first step but “many more steps must be taken.”
He demanded a complete investigation and for Iran to take full responsibility for shooting down the plane, including the payment of compensation to the families of the dead, which includes dozens of Canadians.
Ukraine, for its part, said Saturday it is offering over $8,000 in financial compensation to the families of its citizens killed in the crash.
Gen. Hajizadeh said the plane had been misidentified as a cruise missile and was shot down with a shortrange missile.
Asked why Iranian airspace was not shut to commercial air traffic while Iran’s defense forces were on alert for attacks, Hajizadeh had no clear answer.
“I wish I was dead,” Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by local news outlets. “I accept all responsibility for this incident.”