Reports coming from Iran via social media indicate protests that began earlier in the afternoon in the capital Tehran spread to several other cities.
Around 5:00 pm local time hundreds of students and others gathered in front of Tehran's Amir Kabir and Sharif universities this January 11 to protest against the regime's deception of the public about the Ukrainian airliner that the Revolutionary Guard shot down on Wednesday.
The rallies were called by students yesterday who said in their statements they were going to mourn the victims of the plane crash and light candles for them.
Among the victims of the plane crash there were 26 alumni of various Iranian universities.
Reports received around midnight local time indicated noisy protests continuing on Tehran University campus, with students chanting "Down with the dictator".
Videos posted on the social media showed protesters chanting slogans such as "Liers, liers", "So many years of crime, down with Supreme Leader, "Shame on Revolutionary Guard, Leave the country alone" and "Down with dictator".
There are reports of tear gas being fired and security forces firing in the air. The state broadcaster reported protesters in Tehran tore up pictures of Qassem Soleimani who was killed January 3 by a U.S. drone in Iraq.
Later reports coming from the cities of Isfahan, Hamadan, Sari and Rasht indicated there were also local protests against the conduct of the government regarding the downing of the airliner and hiding facts from the public for three days.
The videos received from Tehran showed a number of security forces on motorcycles among the protesters who were angrily shouting "scoundrel" at them. Another video showed protesters in front of Sharif Technical University demanding Khamenei step down as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
The Iranian regime for three days kept the public in the dark about the real reason for the crash of a Ukrainian airliner that killed all 167 onboard, claiming "technical failure" was responsible for the tragedy. Earlier this morning the Armed Forces General Headquarters issued a statement and accepted that as suspected by many the plane had been targeted by an Iranian missile.
A student activist in a tweet from the scene said tear gas has been fired at the crowd who were chanting: "Don't call me a seditionist, ُyou are the sedition itself, the tyrant".
The protests that had started at around 17:00 local time continued for several hours before security forces broke them up with tear gas. According to some unconfirmed reports on social media tens of protesters were arrested.
