- Iran initially denied wrongdoing in the plane crash, before ultimately accepting responsibility on Saturday.
- While Iran was doubling down on its denial, the video helped confirm international suspicions that an accidental missile launch was likely to blame.
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The person who posted the video showing the Ukrainian plane being taken down by an Iranian missile has been arrested
The person who published video of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 being downed by an Iranian missile has been arrested, according to the Iranian Fars news agency.
The person who shared video showing Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 being struck by an Iranian missile last week has been arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Fars News Agency reported Tuesday.
Fars, which is described as a "semi-official" news agency of the Iranian government, said the results of an investigation into the unnamed person will be released to the public.
The Boeing 737 crashed outside of Tehran shortly after takeoff on January 8, just hours after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at two US-occupied military bases in Iraq. All 176 people onboard the plane were killed.
While experts were quick to suspect that an accidental shootdown was to blame, Iran at first vehemently denied any wrongdoing and claimed the plane's engine malfunctioned.
As Ukrainian investigators arrived in Iran on Thursday to collect evidence at the crash site, The New York Times published a report about the video, which shows a missile being shot off into the night sky before hitting an unseen object and exploding into a ball of flames.
Later that day, US intelligence sources started to confirm the shootdown theory to news outlets.
It wasn't until Saturday that Iran finally admitted shooting down the plane, setting off massive anti-government protests across the country.
Also on Tuesday, another video emerged showing two missiles hit the plane. The Times ' investigative team also verified that video. It's unclear who filmed or posted the second video.
- Read more:
- New video shows that 2 missiles struck the Ukrainian plane that crashed in Iran
- Here's what other global powers have at stake the standoff between the US and Iran
- How Iranians pivoted from condemning the US to dramatic protests against their own government after officials shot down a commercial plane
- Here's what's in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that the country withdrew from amid heightened tensions with the US
See Also:
- Here are 3 times passenger planes have been accidentally shot down amid heightened military tensions
- Iran's claims for why it couldn't have shot down a Ukrainian airplane aren't adding up
- Iran's foreign minister said 'US adventurism' is to blame for the Iranian military shooting down a passenger jet
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