Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne has called on Iran to take full responsibility after it shot down a passenger plane last week. He said he was speaking on behalf of the 176 victims from five countries, whose foreign ministers met in London on Thursday. Canada, Britain, Ukraine, Sweden and Afghanistan have formed a […]

UN-sponsored talks on the Libyan conflict are set to be held on Sunday in the German capital, Berlin. The oil-rich North African country has been beset by a civil war for nearly a decade, since Nato-backed forces overthrew Libya’s long-serving ruler Muammar Gaddafi. BBC Arabic Hanan Razek explains how complicated the situation is. Produced by: […]

Image copyright AFPImage caption Many have been angered by the government’s actions over the plane crash The latest anti-government demonstrations sweeping Iran arguably pose the most serious challenge to the administration of any in its 40-year history. In recent years, Iran has seen two major surges of opposition – in 2017 (late December) and 2019 […]

Iranian team Persepolis’ players celebrate a goal during the AFC Champions League match against Qatar’s Al Sadd in Tehran Iran’s four teams in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League say they will refuse to play if they cannot host home games, says the Mehr news agency. Football’s governing body in Iran has claimed the confederation […]

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has led Friday prayers in the capital Tehran – the first time he has done so in eight years. His country has faced criticism at home and abroad after it admitted shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane by mistake. The BBC’s Martin Patience said he delivered “a defiant message […]

Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption Iranians were angered by officials who initially denied shooting down a plane outside Tehran After days of denial, the Iranian authorities admitted that a crash involving a Ukrainian International Airlines jetliner was caused by human error. The incident on Wednesday came just hours after Iran had launched a series of […]

Image copyright AS LISTEDImage caption “More bitter than bitter” and “Unforgiveable” were among Iranian newspaper headlines Outrage in Iran over the shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner, and the delay in admitting responsibility for it, has been prominent in its media. Sentiments normally seen in social media posts have made their way into more mainstream […]

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionThe BBC’s Martin Patience says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a “defiant message” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has defended the country’s armed forces after it admitted shooting down a passenger plane by mistake. He said the Revolutionary Guard – the elite unit responsible for the disaster […]

Image copyright Getty ImagesImage caption A protester in Tehran holds up a picture of one of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash There have been anti-government protests in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and other cities after the Iranian authorities admitted they had “unintentionally” shot down a Ukrainian International Airlines plane. Some of the protesters […]

Image copyright AFPImage caption Shops and cars were destroyed in the latest deadly air strikes At least 18 civilians are reported to have died in air strikes that hit a market and an industrial zone in the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib. A monitoring group said Russian and Syrian government planes carried out the attacks. […]