US President Trump has taken to Twitter to warn the Iranian authorities against "killing protesters" in the wake of the country's shoot-down of a Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2020
The statement comes amid media reports of protests in Iran against those responsible for the deadly incident. Saturday's protests reportedly gathered thousands of students chanting 'radical slogans'. The demonstrators were reportedly dispersed by police.
Protest situation appears to have gathered momentum following the brief arrest of the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire for allegedly participating and organising protests in the country, a claim the envoy denies.
On Saturday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted to downing Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737 by mistake, confusing the plane with a cruise missile. Iran had previously maintained the incident was caused by a technical error.
The crash killed all 176 people on board.