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Protests continue in Iran over plane crash

Iranians' outrage continues unabated since their government admitted to shooting down a Ukrainian plane, killing 176 people.

Iranian people gather to show their sympathy to the victims of the crash of the Boeing 737-800 plane, flight PS 752, in Tehran, Iran January 11, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC2TDE9E5L0J
Iranian people gather to show their sympathy for the victims of the crash of the Ukrainian passenger plane in Tehran, Iran Jan. 11, 2020. — Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Protests have continued for a third night after Iranian officials took responsibility for accidentally shooting down a passenger plane in Tehran and killing 176 people. 

Protests have taken place at Amir Kabir University and Sharif University of Technology, which lost current or former students in Flight 752. Among the victims were a number of university professors, PhD holders, medical doctors and students.

In support of the protests that reached a dozen cities in criticism of the government, a number of artists have pulled out of the Fajr Visual Arts Festival. They include nearly two dozen cartoonists and well-known Iranian filmmaker Massoud Kimiai, who wrote on Instagram, “People are enduring a lot of hardship.”

Also among the government's critics is Faezeh Hashemi, political activist, former parliamentarian and daughter of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. In an audio recording broadcast by the BBC Persian service, Faezeh encouraged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down to allow structural changes to take place. She also encouraged the street protests to continue.

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