About 30 Iranians have been arrested for their involvement in shooting down the Ukrainian jet last week, judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Esmaili said on Tuesday.
The spokesman added that said the defendants had been arrested after 'extensive investigations.
This comes after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s announcement that his country is working to fulfill its legal responsibilities in the incident, vowing to punish those responsible as he called the shoot-down of the Boeing 737 an 'unforgivable error'.
He also called for opening a probe into the painful mistake which killed 176 people including dozens of Iranians.
The president said 'one person cannot be solely responsible for the plane crash' as he vowed a thorough investigation into the disaster.
In a televised speech, Rouhani added, “For our people it is very important in this incident that anyone who was at fault or negligent at any level' face justice.”
After an initial denial of responsibility, Iran admitted that it had shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet by mistake, killing 176 people on board, during Iranian missile attacks on US bases in Iraq.
A military statement aired on Iran’s state TV blamed “human error” for the incident.
It was followed by an apology from Iran’s president and condolences from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On the other hand, thousands of Iranians took to the street, denouncing the incident. They are calling for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down and for those responsible for downing the plane to be held accountable.
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