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IRAN-UKRAINE-CANADA-US-AVIATION-ARRESTS,LEAD
Iran judiciary says arrests made over airliner downing
TEHRAN, Jan 14, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Iran announced Tuesday that arrests have
been made over the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet in Tehran last
week, without specifying how many.
“Extensive investigations have been carried out and some people have been
arrested,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told a televised news
conference.
The arrests are the first to have been announced since the Ukraine
International Airlines plane was brought down by a missile shortly after
takeoff from Tehran before dawn on Wednesday.
After initially denying Western claims it was shot down, Iran came clean
on Saturday and admitted the plane had been brought down by a missile.
The Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali
Hajizadeh accepted full responsibility, but said the missile operator who
opened fire had been acting independently.
“Numerous investigations have been conducted in this area and every night
our judicial team has been seeking documents until midnight,” said Esmaili.
“Suggestions have been made so far but we have to weigh all the dimensions
to get to the truth,” the judiciary spokesman added.
His statement came shortly after President Hassan Rouhani said everyone
responsible for the tragedy must be punished for the incident that has
sparked angry protests in Iranian cities.
The air disaster claimed the lives of all 176 passengers and crew on
board, most of them Iranians and Canadians.
BSS/AFP/RY/1616 hrs