'Our enemy is here': Iran protesters demand that leaders quit after plane downed by PHREUTERS
DUBAI - Protests erupted across Iran for a second day on Sunday, increasing pressure on the Islamic Republic’s leadership after it admitted its military shot down a Ukrainian airliner by accident, despite days of denials that Iranian forces were to blame.
The Ukraine International Airlines plane was downed minutes after taking off from Tehran bound for Kiev on Wednesday. Many on board were Iranians with dual citizenship, while 57 were holders of Canadian passports. The latest unrest adds to mounting pressure on the Iranian authorities, who are struggling to keep the crippled economy afloat under stringent U.S. sanctions.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it had obtained visas for two of its investigators to travel to Iran. A U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 3 killed prominent Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, responsible for building up Iran’s network of proxy armies in Iraq and beyond. Tehran responded with missile strikes on U.S. targets in Iraq.
But others said Iran’s enemies, a term usually used to refer to Washington and its allies, were exploiting the incident.
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