Canadian officials arrive in Iran amid PS752 investigation — with more on the way

“We anticipate the [team] to be totally in place to do their necessary work by Jan. 14,” Champagne mentioned.

Canada has been demanding a big function within the investigation into the incident that killed 176 passengers, most of them Iranians and Iranian-Canadians.

After initially blaming a technical failure, Iranian authorities lastly admitted on Saturday that the nation’s army by accident struck the Boeing 737-800, inflicting it to crash within the countryside southwest of the Iranian capital.

The downing occurred as Tehran was bracing for U.S. airstrikes and solely hours after Iran had fired missiles at two air bases housing U.S. and Canadian forces in Iraq. Rigidity rose on Jan. three after a U.S. drone strike in Iraq killed outstanding Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, chargeable for increase Iran’s community of regional proxy armies in Iraq and past.

Canada says it desires to participate within the crash investigation and assist the households of the Canadians who died. The workforce contains consular officers and two members of Transportation Security Board (TSB).

The TSB mentioned later it will deploy a second workforce of investigators who specialise in plane recorder obtain and evaluation “as soon as we verify the place and when this exercise will happen.” It didn’t give extra particulars.

Canada doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran.

Protests at 2 universities

Protests erupted throughout Iran for a second day on Sunday, piling stress on the management after the army’s admission.

“They’re mendacity that our enemy is America, our enemy is correct right here,” a gaggle of protesters outdoors a college in Tehran chanted, in response to video clips posted on Twitter. Posts confirmed different demonstrators outdoors a second college and a gaggle of protesters marching to Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Sq.. The movies additionally confirmed protests in different cities.

Riot police fired teargas at hundreds of protesters within the capital on Saturday, the place many had chanted “Demise to the dictator,” directing their anger on the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Apologize and resign,” Iran’s reasonable Etemad every day wrote in a banner headline on Sunday, saying the “individuals’s demand” was for these chargeable for mishandling the aircraft disaster to stop.

The newest upsurge in anger provides to challenges going through the authorities, which launched a bloody crackdown in November to quell protests. The management can also be struggling to maintain the crippled economic system afloat beneath stringent U.S. sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted: “To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Hundreds have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani mentioned the downing was a “disastrous mistake” and apologized. However a prime Revolutionary Guard commander added to public fury when he mentioned he had advised the authorities on the identical day because the crash that an Iranian missile had struck the aircraft.

The Guard’s prime commander, Hossein Salami, mentioned “we’re extra upset than anybody over the incident,” state media reported. One other commander mentioned Iran didn’t intend to hide the trigger.

However others mentioned Iran’s enemies, a time period often used to check with Washington and its allies, had been exploiting the incident.

“Iran’s enemies wish to take revenge on the Guards for a army mistake,” mentioned Ali Shirazi, Khamenei’s consultant to the Quds Pressure, an elite Guards unit, state media reported.

Britain mentioned its ambassador in Iran was briefly detained on Saturday, which Iranian media mentioned was as a result of he was inciting protests. The envoy mentioned he attended a vigil for aircraft victims. Iran summoned him on Sunday, whereas state-affiliated media mentioned members of the hardline Basij militia gathered outdoors the mission with indicators demanding the “treacherous embassy” be shut.

British Overseas Secretary Dominic Raab condemned the arrest and mentioned Iran “can proceed its march towards pariah standing … or take steps to de-escalate tensions” with diplomacy.

‘Crime in opposition to humanity’

“It’s not a human error. This can be a crime in opposition to humanity,” the son of the toppled shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, wrote on Twitter. “Khamenei and his regime ought to go.”

Within the November protests sparked by financial woes in Iran, demonstrators had chanted slogans supporting him. His father died in exile in 1980.

Rallying to the institution, Iranian lawmakers praised the elite power’s commanders for braveness in admitting the error, in response to Fars, a information company seen as near the Guards, a parallel army set as much as shield the theocratic system.

Iranian officers sought to painting the aircraft catastrophe as a second blow to a mourning nation after Soleimani’s dying in a U.S. drone strike.

The commander’s funeral had prompted big public gatherings, which the authorities described as a present of nationwide unity. However the shows of emotion have been swiftly overshadowed as protesters on Saturday tore up footage of the slain basic.