Iranian protesters call for Ayatollah to step down following plane strike admission

Iran protests.
(Image credit: HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran's admission that it accidently shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet carrying 176 people this week has sparked unrest in the country.

Protesters — including many students — gathered in Iran on Saturday and Sunday, criticizing the government and demanding the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei step down. Iran initially denied involvement in the incident, but later said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, fearing retaliation from the U.S. for a strike Tuesday against an American military base in Iraq, mistook the plane for hostile aircraft and launched a missile that brought the plane down, killing everyone on board.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.