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What Iran's admission over Flight 752 set in motion
Summary
A look back at the aftermath of the downing of a Ukrainian airliner near Tehran, as events stood by mid-January 2020.
What was the situation around the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 as of 17 January 2020? By then, Iran had acknowledged responsibility, and the admission had spilled into street protests.
The Boeing 737-800, flying from Tehran to Kyiv, was shot down shortly after takeoff on 8 January 2020, killing all 176 people on board. On 11 January, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted it had mistakenly shot down the aircraft. Iran's president also officially acknowledged that the country's armed forces had mistakenly hit the plane with a missile near Tehran.
Vigils turn into protests
Also on 11 January, vigils held in Iran for the victims turned into protests. According to videos posted on Twitter, hundreds of protesters in Tehran called for the resignation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A diplomatic incident
The same day, the British ambassador to Iran, Robert Macaire, was arrested during the demonstrations. According to the BBC, he had attended a vigil and then got a haircut. Tasnim News Agency said he was held on suspicion of organising, provoking and directing radical actions. The UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said the arrest was a flagrant violation of international law. Macaire was released more than an hour later.
