Under pressure, Iran makes first arrests over airliner downing

The Ain al-Asad military airbase housing US and other foreign troops in the western Iraqi province of Anbar which was bombed by Iran last week. Pic/AFP

Tehran: Iran announced on Tuesday its first arrests over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner last week, as it struggles to contain the fallout from the disaster that sparked three days of protests.

At a televised news conference, the judiciary announced the first arrests had been made over the calamitous blunder, without specifying how many. "Extensive investigations have been carried out and some people have been arrested," said spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili.

The announcement came shortly after President Hassan Rouhani said everyone responsible for the disaster must be punished. "For our people it is very important in this incident that anyone who was at fault or negligent at any level" face justice," Rouhani said. "Anyone who should be punished must be punished.

"The judiciary must form a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts... The whole world will be watching," Rouhani said. "It cannot be that only the person who pressed the button is at fault. There are others, and I want this to be explained to the people explicitly." The Kiev-bound plane was shot down at a time when Iran's armed forces were on heightened alert after launching a volley of missiles at Iraqi bases housing US troops.

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