1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Politics

Iranians were 'lied to' over downed plane

January 15, 2020

The comments mark the first official admission that the 'technical malfunction' reason given was untrue. Javad Zarif also rejected the prospect of direct nuclear negotiations with the United States.

An Iranian woman holds-up a placard with a Persian script that reads, The lie killed us
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NurPhoto/M. Nikoubaz

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that Iranians were "lied to" for days following the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner, which left all 176 passengers dead.

His comments at a security conference in New Delhi are the first time an Iranian official has referred to the initial story, that the air disaster was downed due to a technical malfunction, as a lie.

Protests in Iran after downing of Ukrainian plane

02:15

This browser does not support the video element.

Widespread protests

The tragedy has sparked days of angry protests in the country, with demonstrators calling for the resignation of top officials.

"In the last few nights, we've had people in the streets of Tehran demonstrating against the fact that they were lied to for a couple of days," Zarif said.

Read moreUS denies Iran's Zarif visa for UN Security Council meeting: reports

He added that he and President Hassan Rouhani only found out that a missile had downed the flight on Friday. However, the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which was responsible for downing the airplane, knew immediately after the event took place.

Zarif said the United States is also partially to blame for the downing of the jet. The "ignorance and arrogance" of the US is "fuelling mayhem," he added.

Iran defends plan to speed up uranium enrichment

02:43

This browser does not support the video element.

Nuclear deal in jeopardy

Meanwhile, Zarif also said that Iran would reject any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States, due to uncertainty over how long any agreement made with US President Donald Trump would last.

Read moreGermany, France, UK: 'Essential' Iran stick to nuclear deal

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday called for the president to replace Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with a new agreement to ensure that Iran does not develop atomic weapons. Trump responded that he agreed with Johnson that a new "Trump deal" should replace the 2015 pact. 

"We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last, another 10 months?" Zarif said at the conference.

He also accused Europe of violating the nuclear deal by not buying oil from Iran. "They are not buying oil from us, all of their companies have withdrawn from Iran. So Europe is in violation," he said, adding that the future of the deal "depends on Europe." 

Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018. Since then, Tehran has reneged on its commitments, including on the processing of uranium, which can be used to produce nuclear weapons. 

lc/rt (dpa, Reuters, AP, AFP)

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up to receive it directly here.

Skip next section Explore more
Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW