Iran’s judiciary says arrests have been made over the shooting down of a Ukrainian plane that killed 176 people.
It follows huge protests across Iran calling for those responsible for the tragedy to be punished.
Everyone on board Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 died after a missile brought down the jet liner moments after take-off from Tehran.
Iran has admitted that the Revolutionary Guard shot down the plane by mistake, with president Hassan Rouhani saying the missiles were fired "due to human error".
It is not clear how many arrests have been made, or whether they include General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who has previously said he is to blame.
This morning Boris Johnson described last Wednesday's tragedy as an "appalling mistake".
'An act of God' ISIS heaps praise on Donald Trump for assassinating Soleimani
Iran's ambassador summoned after ‘flagrant violation of international law’
In an interview on the BBC the Prime Minister said: "I'm glad the Iranians have accepted responsibility and identified it as an appalling mistake and it does appear that it was a mistake.
"It is very important that the bodies are repatriated in a dignified way and that the families are allowed to grieve and to have closure.
"Clearly, as President Rouhani has said, Iran made a terrible mistake. It is good they have apologised.
"The most important thing now is that tensions in the region calm down."
The plane was shot down just hours after missile strikes on two US bases in Iraq, in response to the Donald Trump-ordered assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Iran initially denied responsibility, but backtracked after Western intelligence agencies said evidence suggested Iranian involvement.
An Iranian general has since accepted he was to blame for mistakenly shooting down a civilian aircraft with the loss of 176 people and declared: “I wish I could die.”
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh admitted his unit had mistaken the Ukrainian Boeing 737-800 for an enemy target.
The general, head of the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said: “I wish I could die and not witness such an accident.”
It is not clear if he is among those arrested.
The plane tragedy has sparked widespread protests across Iran, with demonstrators demanding those responsible are punished.
On Saturday British ambassador Rob Macaire was briefly arrested at a demonstration outside a university.
It is believed he was photoing the demonstration in Tehran.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab branded the ambassador's arrest a "flagrant violation of international law".
Iranian officials had spent days denying responsibility for downing the Kiev-bound Flight PS752 just moments after it left Tehran on Wednesday.
They accused the US of spreading malicious propaganda and lies about the crash which happened just hours after an Iranian missile blitz on US and British bases in Iraq.
The country's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, admitted on Twitter last week: "A sad day. Preliminary conclusions of internal investigation by Armed Forces: human error at time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to disaster.
"Our profound regrets, apologies and condolences to our people, to the families of all victims, and to other affected nations."
Source: Read Full Article