Iran finally admits lying about shooting down plane as regime descends into bitter infighting over who’s to blame
IRAN has finally admitted “lying” about a passenger plane it shot down as the regime descends into bitter infighting over who is to blame.
The Ukrainian jet was blown out of the sky near Tehran by mistake last week after air defence troops mistook it for a US rocket.
The country initially denied having anything to do with the crash, which it blamed on “technical problems”.
But it was eventually forced to admit its error in the face of growing evidence – sparking large anti-government protests.
And the country’s top diplomat today acknowledged that Iranians were “lied to” for the first time.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “In the last few nights, we’ve had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days.”
He added that he and Rouhani only learned an Iranian missile had downed the flight two days later – suggesting they too had been misled.
The claim raises new questions over how much power Iran's civilian government has in its theocracy.
BLAME GAME
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which shot down the aircraft, is answerable only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
It comes as Iranian president Hassan Rouhani called on Iran’s armed forces to apologise for shooting down the jet.
He also vowed to “punish” those responsible after several people were arrested over the disaster yesterday.
The tragedy – which killed all 176 people on board – has sparked widespread outrage in Iran.
And various factions within the government now appear to be trying to pass the blame onto each other.
Earlier this week a recording emerged claiming to show an unnamed Revolutionary Guard commander slamming the president in a speech to a room full of his comrades.
Iran: Democracy or dictatorship?
Iran presents the face of a democracy, with a parliament and a president elected by the people.
But the real power in the country lies with the supreme leader – the Ayatollah – and his conservative cleric backers.
The presidential candidates in any election are vetted by a council of clerics chosen by the supreme leader and the judiciary, called the Guardian Council.
This council can also overrule laws made by the country’s parliament.
And it’s the supreme leader, not the president, who controls the armed forces and makes decisions on security, defence and major foreign policy issues.
Ayatollah Ali Khomeini has been the supreme leader since 1989.
He said: “The statement by the government admitting the cause of air crash was disgraceful.
“The statement should not have blamed the entire Revolutionary Guard and could have just said it was the fault of one individual.”
He added that the Rouhani administration was failing to show gratitude to the Revolutionary Guard for crushing anti-government protests late last year, when some 1,500 people were reportedly killed.
He said: “The November protests were caused by the Rouhani government but the Revolutionary Guard sacrificed itself and put them down.
“But this time the government is so passive in the face of the attacks on the Revolutionary Guard.”
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Experts have said the plane tragedy could be a “Chernobyl moment” for Iran that could cause the regime to collapse.
Several state TV hosts have quit in protest at the false reporting.
And a string of top Iranian celebs have also thrown their weight behind the demonstrations.
