Closing summary
- Iranian authorities appear to have fired live ammunition to disperse crowds in Tehran protesting over the Iranian military’s shooting down of a commercial airliner, killing all 176 people onboard. Several people have been wounded, according to witness accounts provided to the Guardian. They said security forces initially fired teargas to disperse the crowds and then started firing bullets. You can read the full story here.
- The dispute over the arrest of Britain’s ambassador to Tehran this weekend has escalated as the Foreign Office summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest about the incident. Rob Macaire was held briefly on Saturday as anti-government demonstrations broke out in Tehran. The ambassador was accused of taking part in the protests, a claim he denies. A spokesperson for the prime minister said:
This was an unacceptable breach of the Vienna convention and it needs to be investigated. We are seeking full assurances from the Iranian government that this will never happen again. The FCO has summoned the Iranian ambassador today to convey our strong objections.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister has told Reuters that representatives of five nations whose citizens died when an airliner was shot down by Iran last week will meet in London on Thursday to discuss possible legal action.
- One of Iran’s most popular female actors has criticised the government in Tehran in a post on Instagram, telling her almost 6 million followers that “we are not citizens” but “captives”. Taraneh Alidoosti – who has appeared in an Oscar-nominated film and acclaimed TV dramas – wrote: “I fought this dream for a long time and didn’t want to accept it. We are not citizens. We never were. We are captives.”
Updated
In a series of viral tweets, the head of a Canadian packaged meat company has lashed out at Donald Trump, suggesting the US president bears culpability for Iranian missiles that brought down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 last week. Most of the 167 passengers on board were bound for Canada.
“U.S. government leaders unconstrained by checks/balances, concocted an ill-conceived plan to divert focus from political woes. The world knows Iran is a dangerous state, but the world found a path to contain it; not perfect but by most accounts it was the right direction,” wrote Michael McCain, the chief executive of Maple Leaf Foods, calling Trump a “narcissist”who has destabilised the Middle East.
“The collateral damage of this irresponsible, dangerous, ill-conceived behaviour? 63 Canadians needlessly lost their lives in the crossfire, including the family of one of my [Maple Leaf Food] colleagues (his wife + 11 year old son)! We are mourning and I am livid.”
The thread has been ‘liked’ more than 45,000 times, suggesting the post is striking a nerve with Canadians.
I’m Michael McCain, CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, and these are personal reflections. I am very angry, and time isn’t making me less angry. A MLF colleague of mine lost his wife and family this week to a needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran...
— Maple Leaf Foods (@MapleLeafFoods) January 13, 2020
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has so far resisted weighing in on the role US actions may have played in the tragedy. “I think it is too soon to be drawing conclusions or assigning blame or responsibility in whatever proportions,” he said last week.
McCain’s post — the boldest criticism so far from the Canadian business community — follows a series of emotional vigils across the country over the weekend. Speaking to thousands of mourners in Edmonton, Trudeau said the country would not rest until there was justice and accountability for victims and their families.
Updated
Carl Tobias, professor of law at the University of Richmond, in the US state of Virginia, has commented on whether the families of victims of the Iran plane crash might be able to sue the Iranian government.
“Much remains unclear, so caution is the byword. However, if, as has been reported and admitted, the Iranian missile struck the plane ‘unintentionally’ or mistakenly, which I consider to mean negligently, exposure to civil liability for the lives lost would be relatively clear,” he wrote in an email to the Guardian’s international correspondent Michael Safi. “This would mean that the survivors might be able to recover for their losses in US, Canadian, and I assume Ukrainian civil courts.”
There are technical procedural issues about filing suit, but the US and Canadian courts would be amenable to survivor suits. Plaintiffs could show liability and a judge or jury would likely rule in their favor, but it might be difficult for plaintiffs to find Iranian assets from which plaintiffs can be compensated.
There also may be international laws and treaties and perhaps tariffs that govern, but I think that the Iranian Government could be held responsible, because its officials clearly made the mistake. There may also be possible liability imposed on the airline for flying in this airspace given the recent tensions, but that seems less clear now.
Updated
It looks like the internet could be being throttled at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, where there are protests.
Confirmed: Drop in internet connectivity registered at #Sharif University, Tehran from 11:50 UTC where students are protesting for colleagues and alumni killed on flight #PS752; national connectivity remains stable despite sporadic disruptions on third day of #Iran protests📉 pic.twitter.com/LjaNNd4Ut2
— NetBlocks.org (@netblocks) January 13, 2020
You can read some background to internet shutdowns in Iran here:
This video posted by the BBC purports to show protesters outside Sharif University of Technology in Tehran chanting “kill the mullahs”.
تجمع در دانشگاه صنعتی شریف
— BBC NEWS فارسی (@bbcpersian) January 13, 2020
دانشجویان دانشگاه صنعتی شریف امروز دوشنبه ۲۳ دی، در پی ساقط شدن #هواپیمای_اوکراینی با موشک سپاه و در ادامه اعتراضات در شهرهای مختلف ایران، تجمع کردند. در این ویدیو آنها شعار میدهند "نخبههانون رو کشتن، آخوند به جاش گذاشتن".
#پرواز۷۵۲ pic.twitter.com/3oeJul5TJU
'Grieving nations' to discuss legal action against Iran over plane crash
Ukraine’s foreign minister has told Reuters that representatives of five nations whose citizens died when an airliner was shot down by Iran last week will meet in London on Thursday to discuss possible legal action.
Speaking at the sidelines of an official visit to Singapore on Monday, Vadym Prystaiko said the countries would also discuss compensation and the investigation into the incident.
Updated
Footage circulated by Iranian activists on Monday morning shows a new gathering at Tehran’s Sharif University and another at the Sharif University in Isfahan, the first signs that the public demonstrations that erupted on Saturday may continue for a third day.
“Basiji go away!” people in Isfahan are heard shouting, in reference to pro-regime militiamen. “Clerics must go!”
I’ve also just heard a voice message from an activist in Tehran who says regime supporters are trying to take over public spaces:
It is fucked around Valiasr Square [in Tehran]. They brought huge loudspeakers and are playing noha [lamentation songs]. And there are around 20 to 30 Revolutionary Guards in their uniforms.
Updated
One of Iran’s most popular female actors has bluntly criticised the government in Tehran in a post on Instagram, telling her almost 6 million followers that “we are not citizens” but “captives”.
Taraneh Alidoosti – who has appeared in an Oscar-nominated film and acclaimed TV dramas – wrote: “I fought this dream for a long time and didn’t want to accept it. We are not citizens. We never were. We are captives.”
Alidoosti said that she had replaced her profile picture with the colour black in mourning for demonstrators shot dead by security forces last November. The colour had nothing to do with official “mourning” following the assassination on 3 January of Iran’s top general, Qassem Suleimani, by a US drone, she said.
The Guardian’s Luke Harding has the full story –
Updated
Summary
- Iranian authorities appear to have fired live ammunition to disperse crowds in Tehran protesting over the Iranian military’s shooting down of a commercial airliner with 176 people onboard. Several people have been wounded, according to witness accounts provided to the Guardian. They said security forces initially fired teargas to disperse the crowds and then started firing bullets. You can read the full story here.
- Iran’s government spokesman has dismissed tweets by Donald Trump, telling the country’s authorities in Farsi and English not to kill protesters and praising the “great Iranian people”. Ali Rabiei said the US president was shedding “crocodile tears” when voicing concern for Iranians.
- The UK government will tell Iran’s ambassador in London it has “strong objections” to the arrest of the UK’s top diplomat in Tehran. The prime minister’s spokesman said:
In relation to the arrest of the UK’s ambassador over the weekend, I would say this was an unacceptable breach of the Vienna convention and it needs to be investigated. We are seeking full assurances from the Iranian government that this will never happen again. The FCO has summoned the Iranian ambassador today to convey our strong objections.
- Downing Street has also indicated that the families of the victims of the downed Ukraine International Airlines flight could seek compensation from the Iranian government.
Updated
Families of plane crash victims could claim compensation
Downing Street has indicated that the families of the victims of the downed Ukraine International Airlines flight could seek compensation from the Iranian government.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told journalists in Westminster:
As a first step we need a comprehensive, transparent and independent investigation to know exactly what happened. Of course, the families of the four British victims deserve justice and closure and we will continue to do everything we can to support them in getting that, including options for compensation.
Updated
Iran's UK ambassador summoned to Foreign Office
The Foreign Office has summoned Iran’s ambassador to the UK, Hamid Baeidinejad, to protest at the brief detention of Rob Macaire, the British ambassador in Tehran, Downing Street has said.
Macaire was held briefly on Saturday as anti-government demonstrations broke out in Tehran over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner by Iranian forces. The ambassador was accused of taking part in the protests, a claim he denies.
A No 10 spokesman said:
This was an unacceptable breach of the Vienna convention, and it needs to be investigated. We are seeking full assurances from the Iranian government that this will never happen again. The FCO has summoned the Iranian ambassador today to convey our strong objections.
The meeting is expected to take place this afternoon.
Domonic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, will update MPs on Iran when he speaks to the Commons in the Queen’s speech debate later on Monday.
No10: Iranian Ambasaador to UK summoned to see Middle East minister Andrew Murrison today over arrest of British ambassador in Teheran. FCO “seeking assurances this will never happen again”.
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) January 13, 2020
Updated
From the Telegraph’s Middle East correspondent:
Rouhani government spokesman: "All relevant authorities had assured us that there had been no missile involved in the downing of the Ukrainian plane."
— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) January 13, 2020
i.e. accusing the Revolutionary Guard of misleading them over what happened to #PS572
Updated
Michael H Fuchs, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs, has written in the Guardian that we cannot allow Trump’s approach to foreign policy to be normalised.
After three years of dangerously and unnecessarily escalating tensions with Iran, Donald Trump rang in the new year by creating a crisis that almost started a war with Iran – and still very well could.
As we enter the fourth year of Trump’s presidency, it is more necessary than ever to remind ourselves daily: this is not normal.
The list of despicable domestic actions by Trump that must not be normalized is long – from the policy separating migrant children from their parents and detaining them in cages to the president’s call for his critics to be investigated or jailed.
Here’s a useful visual guide to what we know about the crashing of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752:
From the Guardian’s diplomatic editor:
Footage of UK ambassador to Iran attending a vigil for the victims of Ukrainian air crash. No evidence that he is agitating or co-ordinating, as alleged. Appears circa 30 seconds. https://t.co/z5TsZ1qGG5
— Patrick Wintour (@patrickwintour) January 13, 2020
Updated
Trump shedding “crocodile tears” for Iranians, says Tehran
Reuters is reporting that Iran’s government spokesman has dismissed tweets by Trump telling the country’s authorities in Farsi and English not to kill protesters. The US president praised the “great Iranian people”. Ali Rabiei said Trump was shedding “crocodile tears” when voicing concern for Iranians.
To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
Rabiei said Britain’s ambassador to Iran had acted in a way that was “completely unprofessional and unacceptable”, after he was briefly detained near a protest. The envoy said he was arrested after attending a vigil and had left when it turned political.
Updated
Witnesses: Iranian police open fire to disperse protesters
Iranian authorities appear to have fired live ammunition to disperse protesters in Tehran, wounding several people, according to witness accounts provided to the Guardian and footage circulating on social media.
Our international correspondent, Michael Safi, has reported that security forces initially fired teargas to disperse the crowds and then started firing bullets. “It was a very bad situation,” the woman, who asked not to be identified, said in a message provided to the Iranian activist Masih Alinejad.
Tehran’s police chief said in a statement on Monday that no shots were fired during Sunday’s events and that officers were under orders to show restraint.
Read the full story here:
Updated
France: Russia wants to safeguard Iran nuclear deal
France and Russia have a shared desire to safeguard Iran’s nuclear deal, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. According to Reuters, Macron said in a statement he had a phone call on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said he remained committed to the deal.
Leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Sunday called on Iran to return to full compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and refrain from further violence.
The crashing of the Ukrainian Airlines jet outside Tehran has drawn inevitable comparisons with MH17, brought down over the east of Ukraine by a Russian missile five years ago. The Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent Shaun Walker reports on how – yet again – Ukraine has been dragged into a conflict not of its own making.
“Ukraine seems to have a dark cloud over it,” said Alina Polyakova of the Brookings Institution. “It’s fighting a war against Russia, and has become part of the political war in the US. This tragedy again puts Ukraine in the middle of conflicts that have nothing to do with it.”
While the plane’s shooting down had a terrible cost in human life, Ukraine’s unwanted starring role in the US impeachment disaster has come with costs to military aid, political alliances and reputation.
“It’s a catastrophe,” said Pavlo Klimkin, who was the country’s foreign minister until last August. “Ukraine now has the reputation of a place that can cause all kinds of trouble. It’s the opposite of everything we were working for.”
Updated
You can read our latest story on the events in Iran from Guardian international correspondent, Michael Safi, here.
The resurgent anti-government protests threaten to tip Iran’s regime into crisis just as it was riding a wave of nationalist sentiment after the killing of top general Qassem Suleimani by a US drone strike on 3 January.
Iran’s response – a carefully calibrated but heavily publicised ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq last Wednesday – was supposed to bring catharsis and demonstrate the regime’s power.
Instead, by leading to the shooting down of a passenger jet loaded with Iranian citizens, it has humiliated the military and exposed some of its top leaders as having lied to the country for days until the admission on Saturday morning that an Iranian missile was responsible for the crash.
Two state TV hosts resigned in protest over false reporting over the incident and Iranian media outlets joined the outcry, running front-page headlines that read, “Ashamed” and “Unbelievable”.
The governments of France, Germany and the UK – the “E3” – issued a statement yesterday saying that they were still committed to the Iran nuclear deal, despite the collapse in Iran/US relations. They said:
Today, our message is clear: we remain committed to the JCPoA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and to preserving it; we urge Iran to reverse all measures inconsistent with the agreement and return to full compliance; we call on Iran to refrain from further violent action or proliferation; and we remain ready to engage with Iran on this agenda in order to preserve the stability of the region.
But President Donald Trump tweeted late last night UK time that he “couldn’t care less” if Iran wanted to negotiate with the US. He was responding to comments by the national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, who said sanctions were ramping up pressure on Tehran and that the country was “going to have no other choice but to come to the table”.
National Security Adviser suggested today that sanctions & protests have Iran “choked off”, will force them to negotiate. Actually, I couldn’t care less if they negotiate. Will be totally up to them but, no nuclear weapons and “don’t kill your protesters.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
Updated
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the protests in Iran and the fallout from the downing of a passenger jet outside Tehran last week.
Authorities in Iran are struggling to contain public anger after they admitted on Saturday that the country’s military was responsible for shooting down a commercial airliner with 176 people onboard. Police used teargas to break up a second day of protests in Tehran on Sunday, with demonstrations spreading to other cities.
Speaking at a vigil yesterday, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, his voice sometimes breaking, said he would “pursue justice and accountability” for those killed in the disaster. At least 57 Canadians died in the crash, most of them of Iranian descent, in one of the biggest single losses of life the country has suffered in 40 years.
“You may feel unbearably lonely, but you are not alone. Your entire country stands with you, tonight, tomorrow, and in all the years to come,” he told a crowd of 1,700 in Edmonton, Alberta, home to 13 of the victims.
Meanwhile, both Boris Johnson and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, have condemned the brief arrest and detention on Saturday of the British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire. Macaire said he had attended an event that advertised itself as being a vigil for those who died in the crash, but Tehran said it had summoned the ambassador to justify his “illegal and inappropriate presence” at the protest.
Thanks for the many goodwill messages. Can confirm I wasn’t taking part in any demonstrations! Went to an event advertised as a vigil for victims of #PS752 tragedy. Normal to want to pay respects- some of victims were British. I left after 5 mins, when some started chanting.
— Rob Macaire (@HMATehran) January 12, 2020
I’m Frances Perraudin and I’ll be live blogging the latest developments in the crisis today.
Updated
