The Iranian authorities have arrested people suspected of being involved in accidentally taking down the Ukrainian passenger plane last week. No statements were made about the number of detainees and their identities.
The Iranian judiciary also announced that at least 30 demonstrators were arrested for protests following the air disaster near the capital, Tehran.
There, Iranian air defence took down the Boeing 737-800 from a Ukrainian airline last week. One hundred seventy-six people were killed.
Iran initially denied having anything to do with the disaster, but then turned around and acknowledged that the plane had accidentally shot out of the sky.
President Hassan Rohani called that “an unforgivable mistake” on Iranian television. He promised a thorough investigation and said that those who bear responsibility would be punished.
Iranian air defence is said to have mistaken the passenger plane for an American projectile. A few hours before the plane crashed down, Iran had fired rockets at American targets in neighbouring Iraq.
The missile fire was intended as a retaliation for the death of the powerful Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who died in an American drone attack in Baghdad.
