Angry Iranians question authorities for concealing truth on plane incident

Angry Iranians question authorities for concealing truth on plane incident
Iran's statement on Saturday that a Ukrainian passenger plane was downed by a missile fired unintentionally followed growing pressure from abroad but also at home, and for some Iranians, the authorities' expressions of condolence were not enough.

For days, Iran haddenied Western accusations it was responsible for Wednesday's crash soon aftertake-off from Tehran, in which all 176 people aboard were killed. Authoritiessaid on Saturday that air defenses had been fired in error while on high alertfollowing Iranian missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.

Expressions of condolenceover the incident from Supreme Leader and President Hassan Rouhanifailed to calm angry Iranians, who used social media to express their outrageagainst the establishment for concealing the truth.

"It is a nationaltragedy. The way it was handled and it was announced by the authorities waseven more tragic," said Ali Ansari, a moderate cleric, according to Iran'ssemi-official ILNA news agency.

Many Iranians askedwhy authorities did not close down Tehran's airport and the country's airspaceat a time when they would have been on alert for retaliation after the missilestrikes.

There were nofatalities in those strikes, launched to avenge the Jan. 3 U.S. killing of topIranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.

"They were so carefulnot to kill any American in their revenge for Soleimani. But they did not closethe airport? This shows how much this regime cares for Iranians," said MiraSedaghati in Tehran by telephone.

An Iranian militarystatement carried by state media said the Ukrainian plane, which was headed forKiev, was mistaken for a "hostile target" after it turned toward a sensitivemilitary base of the elite Revolutionary Guards near Tehran, adding that it wasa "human error and unintentional".

"Unintentionally?What does it mean? They concealed this huge tragic news for days just to mournfor Soleimani. Shame on you," said Reza Ghadyani, in Tabriz city.

The country heldthree days of funeral processions for Soleimani, who was head of the RevolutionaryGuards' overseas Quds Force and a national hero. Hundreds of thousands ofpeople participated across the country.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
Ajel
english.ajel.sa