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Two governments under pressure on 17 January 2020
Summary
A look back at a day when Tehran and Kyiv each faced a test of leadership, over Flight 752 and a leaked recording.
What did leaders in Tehran and Kyiv have to answer for on 17 January 2020? The two stories were unrelated, but each showed a government managing pressure from its own public and its own circle.
Tehran: a defiant sermon
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, delivered a Friday sermon, his first in eight years. He defended the Revolutionary Guards over the accidental killing of passengers on Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. He also praised Operation Martyr Soleimani, saying it had delivered a "slap on the face" to the United States.
The sermon came as public anger over the government's handling of the downing was mounting. The airliner had been shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on 8 January 2020, and protests followed. They formed part of the wider unrest in Iran in January 2020. Choosing to address the issue from the pulpit, rather than leave it to others, set the tone: the leadership stood by the force responsible.
Kyiv: a resignation that was not accepted
The same day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk submitted his resignation. It followed the leak earlier that week of an audio clip in which he allegedly criticised the economic policies of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky then announced that Honcharuk could keep his post.
What the day showed
The contrast is plain. In Iran, the highest authority responded to anger over a lethal error by defending those involved. In Ukraine, a leaked recording prompted an offer to quit, and the president declined it on the spot. Both episodes were about authority under strain, and in both the person at the top had the final say on what followed.
