Oriental Network Longitudinal News Reporter Shan Shan
Since the "mistaken strike" of the Ukrainian airliner, the Iranian government is facing pressure from all sides, including the beginning of popular rallies in several Iranian cities in the capital Tehran, to protest the government's handling.
The US media called this Iran's "Chernobyl moment".
"A Funeral of Public Trust"
Taraneh alidoosti, an Iranian actress who starred in the Oscar-winning best foreign-language film "The Salesman," uploaded an all-black photo of herself on Instagram, which has 6 million followers, after Iran mistakenly hit a Ukrainian airliner.
Aridosti wrote, "We are not people, we are hostages, millions of people are hostages". She also changed her profile photo to black.
Aridosti
Three Iranian state television hosts resigned one after another to protest the station's previous false reports of the crash. One of the hosts also apologized: "Please forgive me for lying on TV for 13 years." Another host said he would "never go back to television."
Many Iranian newspapers and periodicals also wrote "ashamed" and "unbelievable" on their front pages.
The Tehran-based Iranian Journalists Association issued a statement saying Iran was witnessing a "funeral of public trust" and that the credibility of Iran's state media had been battered, calling on journalists to conduct independent news investigations with a skeptical eye.
Masoud Kimiai, a well-known Iranian director, announced that he would no longer attend the upcoming international film festival, saying he would side with the people.
Singer Alireza Assar also cancelled a concert as a show of solidarity. Iran's national volleyball captain Saeed Maroof wrote on social media denouncing the government.
Alizad Alizad, Iran's only female Olympic athlete, also recently announced her move to Europe, pointing out that in Iran, "women are only used as tools." Alizadeh said on social media that she did not want to associate herself with "hypocrisy, lying, injustice and flattery."
Alizad describes himself as "one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran" and that "we are as light as frivolous to them, just tools." ”
Alizade won the bronze medal in taekwondo at the Rio 2016 Olympics, creating a new history for female athletes in Iran. Alizadeh is also the only Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal so far.
Anti-American sentiment in Iran, which had climaxed with Soleimani's death, reversed within a week.
A video on social media showed protesters lighting sulaimani posters hanging in the streets, while others tore up and trampled on them.
However, when the demonstrators passed the ground painted with American and Israeli flags, they chose to go around the edge rather than step on it.
This is in stark contrast to the anti-American protests in Iran a week ago, when people shouted "America is going to die" and burned the flags of the United States and Israel.
Cnn said that not stepping on the flag does not mean that the Iranian people support the United States and Israel, but more of a message to the Iranian government: they are not interested in diverting their attention.
Some analysts pointed out that the current anti-government demonstrations are mainly concentrated in the middle class and student groups, and will not really pose a threat to the government.
When the Western media attacked Iran, they did not forget to blacken the former Soviet Union, and many US media called this Iran's "Chernobyl" moment. (In 1986, an explosion and a leak at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred, and the Soviet government did not disclose the facts at the beginning of the accident, resulting in the failure of the surrounding residents to evacuate in time.) ）
Trump joined in the fun, and the Iraqi government civilians were indignant
The Iranian government has also tried to calm the anger. Iran's judicial department spokesman Ismaili held a press conference on the 14th, saying that the expert group is investigating, interrogating relevant personnel and collecting relevant documents, and has arrested several people.
Ismaili said the black box of the crashed plane has been sent to France for decryption, and Iranian and Ukrainian experts will be involved in the whole process.
Iranian President Rouhani asked the Iranian judicial department to set up a "special court" composed of senior judges and ten experts in a live broadcast on Iranian state television on the 14th to further find out the cause of the Ukrainian passenger plane incident.
"Airliner crashes are unusual, and the world is watching how Iran handles them," he said. ”
At the same time, Rouhani expressed satisfaction with the Iranian military's previous "frank admission of mistakes" and hoped that the results of the investigation would give everyone an answer.
However, some British and American media quoted social media and witnesses as saying that the Iranian police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the protest crowd in the capital Tehran on the evening of the 12th.
Tehran Police Chief Rahimi later stressed in a televised statement that the police had absolutely not fired and had been ordered to exercise restraint.
Trump did not forget to join in the fun, tweeting in Persian that he was with "Iranian protesters" and warning the Iranian government that "protesters cannot be killed."
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi responded on Twitter that those who threaten, sanction and intimidate the Iranian people have no right to tarnish the ancient Persian language. Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabi hit back that Trump was giving "crocodile tears."
British Ambassador to Iran Rob Makar was also briefly arrested by the Iranian government on suspicion of "inciting protests" on the 14th. To this end, the British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian ambassador and expressed "strong protest".