In an extraordinary mea culpa on Iranian state television Saturday, the commander of the unit responsible said "I wished I was dead," when he realized that what his unit thought was a cruise missile was actually a plane.
Ukraine is demanding a full investigation and compensation for the victims -- mostly Iranian, Canadian and Ukrainian -- who died when the airliner was shot out of the sky, hours after Iran launched a number of missiles at two bases housing US troops in Iraq.
Now what? How are the families of the passengers and crew compensated for this unbearable loss? And how do US and Iranian government leaders, now in direct and open military confrontation for the first time since Iran's Islamic Revolution, map a route out of this crisis?
There are still many unanswered questions about the evidence of "imminent and sinister attacks" against Americans that led the US to kill General Qasem Soleimani last week. Republican senators, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, joined Democrats complaining about the Trump administration's briefing to Congress. Lee called it: "The worst briefing I've seen -- at least on a military issue -- in my nine years."
Congress also wants to know whether Soleimani was targeting four US embassies before he was killed, as Trump told Fox News on Friday. It will also seek to find out if the US's aim was broader. On the same day the US killed Soleimani in Baghdad, it tried unsuccessfully to kill another senior Iranian military official in Yemen.
In the meantime, the latest USA Today poll since these hostilities started, say Americans do not feel safer since Iran's top general was killed.
The poll found that 55% of Americans say the killing of Soleimani makes the US less safe, while 57% oppose the threat of US airstrikes on Iran's cultural sites and 53% support Congress limiting Trump's ability to order military strikes. Elsewhere, anti-Americanism has soared around the world since Trump took office, according to new Pew research published Wednesday.
The US's European and NATO allies do not support Trump's latest strikes on Iran, nor pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. It's notable that Germany's Angela Merkel went to Moscow Saturday to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to defuse the current crisis. She did not go to Washington.
So, is the crisis between Iran and the US over? No, it is not.
President Donald Trump has announced a new raft of sanctions against Iran. He said in his address Wednesday that, "the US will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions ... these powerful sanctions will remain until Iran changes its behavior. In recent months alone, Iran has seized ships in international waters, fired an unprovoked strike on Saudi Arabia and shot down two American drones."
He called on Europe and Russia and the rest of the world to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, while also calling on them to join him in making a new deal with Iran.
"We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place," Trump said. "We also must make a deal that allows Iran to thrive and prosper, and take advantage of its enormous untapped potential."
The extraordinary direct military confrontation between the US and Iran may be over for now, but Iranian leaders are pushing their longtime political agenda.
In his televised address on Wednesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted: "Military action this way, that's not sufficient. What matters is that the presence of America ... that should come to an end."
And the more moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who was elected in 2013 on his promise to negotiate with the US and improve Iran's relations with the world, backed up Khamenei's message in his own tweet.
Also on Wednesday, in his address to the nation, Trump made remarks that seemed to indicate he too was looking for ways to reduce the US military presence in the region.
"Today I am going to ask NATO to become much more involved in the Middle East process ... America has achieved energy independence ... We are independent and we do not need Middle East oil," he said.
What message does that send to America's Gulf allies, like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia who depend on the US's military umbrella? As a precaution, they are dialing down their hostility and dialing up their diplomatic overtures to Iran.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper had told me that the US wanted to deescalate the crisis.
"We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one. As I've told my many colleagues ... over the last few days, what we would like to see is the situation de-escalated and for Iran to sit down with us to begin a discussion about a better way ahead. We think that's the best approach at this point in time."
While America's allies -- and even its adversaries -- caution against starting another war in the Middle East, it is difficult to see where the opening for discussion, negotiation and a diplomatic solution is right now.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that the Trump administration's policy would be to confront and contain Iran, but these can be two competing ideas.
Either you confront or you contain, Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin told me. Slotkin, an expert on Shia militias, served three tours of duty alongside US forces in Iraq as a CIA analyst.
She also warned that unless the Trump administration draws up a proper diplomatic strategy, war could still be an accidental consequence of its actions.
"I don't actually question the Secretary of Defense, or even the President's intent that they don't want to get into a war," she told me. "But most wars are not intended.
"Most wars, you get this tit-for-tat that goes in this spiral, and then suddenly each side has its back up and you can't back down, and you inadvertently fall into war," she said.
"I think we are at very high risk of doing right now. So, it's not just about intent. It's our actions mean something beyond our control," Slotkin said.
So what happens now that the President seems to have doubled down on his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran and continues to enforce harsh sanctions?
Iran has called past rounds of sanctions "economic terrorism," and "economic warfare" by the US ever since Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA.)
Former military and government officials tell me that US intelligence had predicted last year that Iran would react to sanctions by attacking shipping in the Gulf and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. The attacks happened but Iran denied any involvement. The sources believe the violence is unlikely to end if the Trump administration policies remain the same.
It is clear from Pompeo's statements after Soleimani's killing that he and the Trump administration are continuing to push for a popular uprising against the Islamic Republic. In other words, they're angling for regime change, despite publicly saying it is not their aim.
Whatever the administration's goal, the millions pouring onto the streets of Iran for four straight days of national mourning this week in the wake of Soleimani's killing, have demonstrated what Iranian Vice President for Women and Family Affairs Massoumeh Ebtekar told me: "This is a very clear indication of the response of the Iranian nation and the fact that the presence of the people, the huge crowds are staggering.
"And even for us -- we've been taking part in many of these marches and demonstrations from the beginning of the revolution -- this is something else. From one city to another city, it is a resurrection," she said.
"It's a revival of the Islamic Revolution," she added. "It's a revival of the Iranian nation."
One top US source and former military commander told me that -- for now -- the Trump administration has united the Iranian nation around an unpopular regime.
However, on Saturday there were protests in Tehran against the government after Iran admitted responsibility for the Ukrainian plane crash. Chants of "resignation is not enough, the responsible must be tried" and "IRGC, resignation, resignation. Leave the power," were raised.
But as for Esper's contention that the US wants "Iran to sit down with us to begin a discussion about a better way ahead." How is that likely to be received?
Iranian Vice President Ebtekar says reformists like herself, Mohammad Javad Zarif and Rouhani, have been burned on that front too, by Trump pulling out of the JCPOA.
By doing so, she says, he "gave the message that the American government is not looking for peace and security, is not looking for a multilateral resolution ... The time for negotiations has passed, unfortunately."
It remains to be seen whether diplomacy can and will be resumed in the future, whether the US-led fight against ISIS will continue in Iraq and Syria, and whether Iraq itself will become a new battlefield where Iran and Russia, will be the winners.
The Speaker of Iraq's Parliament said the country's government must condemn both US and Iranian military action there, and refuse "to allow the conflicting parties to try to use the Iraqi arena to settle their scores."
By week's end the Iraqi government was again insisting the US should make preparations to withdraw forces from their country, which was Soleimani and Iran's ultimate goal.
Of course, the US killing of Soleimani could end up deterring Iran and setting the table for a win-win diplomatic solution for a better future. It's just hard to see that from here.
Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets in Iran's capital, Tehran, to vent anger at officials, calling them liars for having denied shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane.
Protests took place outside at least two universities, with tear gas reportedly fired.
US President Donald Trump tweeted support for the "inspiring" protests.
Iran on Saturday admitted downing the jet "unintentionally", three days after the crash that killed 176 people.
Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, en route to Kyiv, was shot down on Wednesday near Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran shortly after take-off, and only hours after Iran had fired missiles at two air bases housing US forces in Iraq.
Those attacks were Iran's response to the US killing of senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad on 3 January.
Dozens of Iranians and Canadians, as well as nationals from Ukraine, the UK, Afghanistan and Sweden died on the plane.
What happened at the protests?
Students gathered outside at least two universities, Sharif and Amir Kabir, reports said, initially to pay respect to the victims. Protests turned angry in the evening.
The semi-official Fars news agency carried a rare report of the unrest, saying up to 1,000 people had chanted slogans against leaders and tore up pictures of Soleimani.
The students called for those responsible for the downing the plane, and those they said had covered up the action, to be prosecuted.
Chants included "commander-in-chief resign", referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and "death to liars".
Fars said police had "dispersed" the protesters, who were blocking roads. Social media footage appeared to show tear gas being fired.
Social media users also vented anger at the government's actions.
One wrote on Twitter: "I will never forgive the authorities in my country, the people who were on the scene and lying."
The protests were, however, far smaller than the mass demonstrations across Iran in support of Soleimani after he was killed.
What has been the reaction?
President Trump tweeted in both English and Farsi, saying: "To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you.
"We are following your protests closely. Your courage is inspiring."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted video of the protests in Iran, saying: "The voice of the Iranian people is clear. They are fed up with the regime's lies, corruption, ineptitude, and brutality of the IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] under Khamenei's kleptocracy. We stand with the Iranian people who deserve a better future."
Mr Macaire was detained at the demonstration outside Amir Kabir and was later released.
Mr Raab said Iran could "continue its march towards pariah status... or take steps to de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards".
How did the Iranian admission unfold?
For three days, Iran had denied reports its missiles had brought down the plane, with one spokesman accusing Western nations of "lying and engaging in psychological warfare".
But on Saturday morning, a statement read on state TV accepted the plane had been shot down.
Brig-Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace commander, explained what happened.
He said a missile operator had acted independently and alone, mistaking the plane for a "cruise missile" as there had been reports that such missiles had been fired at Iran.
"He had 10 seconds to decide. He could have decided to strike or not to strike and under such circumstances he took the wrong decision," Gen Hajizadeh said.
"He was obliged to make contact and get verification. But apparently, his communications system had some disruptions."
Gen Hajizadeh said the military would upgrade its systems to prevent such "mistakes" in the future.
He said he had "wished he was dead" after being told of the missile strike.
Gen Hajizadeh said he had informed the authorities about what had happened on Wednesday, raising questions about why Iran had denied involvement for so long.
Ayatollah Khamenei said there was "proof of human error", while President Hassan Rouhani said Iran "deeply regrets this disastrous mistake".
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif laid part of the blame on the US. "Human error at a time of crisis caused by US adventurism led to [this] disaster," he said.
How have Canada and Ukraine reacted?
Both Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Mr Rouhani on Saturday.
Mr Trudeau said he was "outraged and furious" and had told Mr Rouhani that there must be a full investigation with "full clarity on how such a horrific tragedy could have occurred".
Mr Trudeau said: "Canada will not rest until we get the accountability, justice and closure the families deserve... they are hurt, angry and grieving and they want answers."
Mr Zelensky, who has demanded compensation and an apology, said Mr Rouhani had assured him that "all persons involved in this air disaster will be brought to justice".
In the Canadian city of Edmonton, Pegah Salari is helping to organise a memorial service for the victims from the city on Sunday.
She says the latest admission by Iran means "now it's more than grief", first felt in the Iranian-Canadian community there.
"It's anger, frustration," she said.
Many on the plane were living there, including 10 people - faculty members, students, and alumni - from the University of Alberta.
Ms Salari is openly critical and distrustful of the Iranian government and is watching news of the protests in Iran with both trepidation and hope.
There are some in the Iranian diaspora in Canada who support the government in Tehran, which can cause tension, she said.
For the moment, that has been set aside, Ms Salari says.
"It's not a political matter, it has nothing to do with economics. This for the first time is a human tragedy and all those lost lives has brought people closer and opened some eyes."
Protesters in Iran's capital, Tehran, have demanded the resignation of senior leaders following the admission of authorities - after days of denials - that Iranian forces accidentally downed a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.
The Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 bound for Kyiv, Ukraine crashed minutes after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran on Wednesday. It happened hours after Iran launched missile attacks on US forces in Iraq in retaliation for the US assassination of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
More:
Here are all of the latest updates as of Sunday, January 12:
Twitter users decry Trump's Tweets
Twitter users criticised Trump for saying he stood in solidarity with the Iranian people, noting that he previously threatened to attack 52 Iranian sites "very hard" as tensions between the two nations escalated earlier this month.
"How about you sit down and mind your own business?!" one Twitter user said.
Yes we saw how you stood with us when you threatened our cultural sites, starved Iranians with sanctions, and banned us from entering the US. How about you sit down and mind your own business?! بشین بابا! pic.twitter.com/wbK0KZrCAE
"Only on planet Trump can you ban Iranians from visiting their family in the US, deny them access to life-saving drugs, threaten to bomb their cultural heritage, and then claim that you are in solidarity with them," another Twitter said, referring to US sanctions against Iran and the US administration's Muslim ban.
Trump 'monitoring protests' in Iran
US President Donald Trump told Iranians in tweets in both English and Farsi that he stands by them and is monitoring the demonstrations.
"To the brave, long-suffering people of Iran: I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency, and my Administration will continue to stand with you," he tweeted.
"There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching," he added.
"We are following your protests closely, and are inspired by your courage," he said.
The government of Iran must allow human rights groups to monitor and report facts from the ground on the ongoing protests by the Iranian people. There can not be another massacre of peaceful protesters, nor an internet shutdown. The world is watching.
The United Kingdom confirmed its ambassador, Rob Macaire, was arrested briefly by Iranian authorities during demonstrations in Tehran. He was accused of "inciting" the protesters in front of the Amir Kabir University on Saturday.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the arrest was a "flagrant violation of international law" and repeated calls for Iran to de-escalate tensions.
"The Iranian government is at a crossroads moment," Raab said in a statement. "It can continue its march towards pariah status with all the political and economic isolation that entails, or take steps to de-escalate tensions and engage in a diplomatic path forwards."
Truth about Iran crash could not be hidden: Ukraine's Zelenskyy
The findings by Ukrainian experts in Iran meant that the truth about the crash could not be concealed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a televised address.
He also said that he had agreed with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on the beginning of joint work to decode the black boxes of the Ukrainian plane that was shot down this week. He also urged Ukraine's international partners to be united and persistent until the investigation was complete.
Following Saturday's vote, Tsai addressed tensions with China over the territory's sovereignty, saying Taiwan is willing to engage with China but that China must respect the voice of Taiwan's voters.
"The results of this election carry an added significance because they have shown that when our sovereignty and democracy are threatened, the Taiwanese people will shout our determination even more loudly back," Tsai said during a news conference.
Tsai also urged China to abandon threats of force against Taiwan and said all countries should consider Taiwan "a partner, not an issue."
With more than 99% of the votes counted by Taiwan's Central Election Commission, Tsai's 8 million votes surpasses Ma Ying-jeou's 2008 record of 7,658,724 votes. In Saturday's vote, Han Kuo-yu received more than 5.4 million votes, and James Soong received more than 600,000 votes.
Han, of the Kuomintang (KMT) party and the main opponent to Tsai, conceded defeat Saturday in a speech to supporters, adding that he had called Tsai to congratulate her.
The election was dominated more than ever by relations with Beijing, which was accused of trying to bully voters and distort the results in its favor.
Tsai's resurgent popularity has been largely courtesy of domestic fears over China. Han was seen by some voters as being too close to Beijing, as many looked with concern at unrest in Hong Kong -- once seen as a model for some in China for a potential future takeover of de facto independent Taiwan.
Fears of China loom
Taiwan is a democratically governed island of 23 million people in the South China Sea. A Japanese colony until 1945, it was taken over by the Kuomintang after they lost the Chinese civil war and moved their Republic of China (ROC) government to the island.
KMT-ruled Taiwan was a dictatorship for many decades before democratic reforms began in the late 1980s, leading to its first direct presidential election in 1996. Since then, the island has gone through a major change in its identity, with many -- particularly younger -- people regarding themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese and supporting full independence from the mainland. That would mean the ROC, as Taiwan still calls itself, would become the Republic of Taiwan.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has never controlled Taiwan, but that has not stopped the Communist government regarding the island as an integral part of its territory and vowing to "retake" it, by force if necessary.
In the past, as Taiwan has appeared poised to drift further out of its orbit, Beijing has resorted to aggressive measures -- for instance, firing missiles into the sea near the island ahead of the 1996 elections. Last month, Beijing sailed its new aircraft carrier into the Taiwan Strait, which divides the island from mainland China, along with several naval frigates. The move was greeted with some alarm by Taipei, which urged Beijing to uphold "peace and stability across the strait and in the region."
This week, the Global Times, a nationalist Chinese state-run tabloid, quoted Chinese officials and analysts as warning "that reunification of the motherland is an inevitable trend regardless of who wins."
According to some, in addition to bellicose statements and shows of force, Beijing also pursued a more subtle approach to influence the elections, targeting Taiwanese voters with fake news and misleading information.
Numerous instances of disinformation regarding voting procedure, party policies, ID requirements and Tsai herself were tracked by the Taiwan FactCheck Center, an independent group. One particularly prevalent piece of fake news is that Tsai's PhD from the London School of Economics is somehow illegitimate, despite the university repeatedly confirming the degree.
Taiwan's Central Election Commission also warned of a surge in fake news and disinformation in the run-up to Saturday's vote.
This story has been updated.
CNN's Rebecca Wright and Kristie Lu Stout contributed reporting.
Two service members were also injured in the incident in the southern province of Kandahar. The service members, who were conducting operations as part of NATO's Resolute Support mission, have not been identified.
Between 12,000 and 13,000 US troops are currently serving in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces.
There have been more than 2,400 total deaths of US service members since the start of America's longest war in 2001. Last year was the deadliest in five years for the US in Afghanistan, with 23 service members killed during operations in the country in 2019.
In late December, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the death of Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, who died as a result of injuries sustained during combat operations.
The latest reported casualties come as the US has restarted peace talks with the Taliban.
Trump has signaled publicly that he wants to draw down several thousand troops from the country. But over 3,000 US troops were recently deployed to the Middle East as tensions rise in the region following the US killing of an Iranian general.
The Trump administration has maintained from the start that it ordered the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in order to forestall an imminent threat to American lives.
It’s pretty clear this is not true, that the administration instead simply made a calculated decision to escalate American pushback on Iran as part of a larger series of back-and-forth actions that began with the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.
And though the deception involved has been fairly widely reported in the press, it hasn’t played a leading role in describing the escalating cycle of tensions. That’s a mistake. By killing a foreign country’s key leader, the US put itself in the position of facing retaliation, as Iran did with rocket attacks on US bases in Iraq earlier this week. Those attacks, thankfully, didn’t kill any Americans. The Trump administration, thankfully, agreed not to retaliate further, for now.
But it’s clear that members of the Trump administration are not in complete agreement on Iran policy with some influential conservatives who have long pushed for a regime change in Tehran. For an administration that wants to start a war with Iran but lacks the public backing to do so — or for a faction that wants to start a war but lacks the full support of the president — one good way to make the dream happen is to do things that provoke Iranian responses that, in turn, provoke new American responses.
A way to halt that cycle of escalation is to insist that people who want to take provocative steps give accurate information about what they are doing.
There’s substantial evidence to doubt the administration’s imminent threat message.
For example, the Pentagon’s original press release about the Soleimani operation didn’t mention it, and the immediate US reaction was to order all American civilians out of Iraq for fear of retaliation — clearly, nobody was made safer in a direct, immediate sense.
Those actions are consistent with a scenario in which Soleimani was a dangerous guy in general, and the decision to take him out was made by policymakers seeking long-term benefits at the short-term cost of elevated risk to American lives. That’s fine as far as it goes; sometimes in life you need short-term pain for long-term gain. But when someone asks you to suffer short-term pain for long-term gain, you normally ask them to explain what kind of gain they’re promising so you can consider whether it’s a fair deal.
The administration, instead, said it was heading off imminent attacks even as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conceded that he couldn’t say where or when these attacks were supposed to happen.
Pompeo insists the ideas that Soleimani presented an "imminent" threat but the administration doesn't know when or where he planned to strike are "completely consistent thoughts." pic.twitter.com/7LDFR7zcVU
Then on Friday, John Hudson, Missy Ryan, and Josh Dawsey reported for the Washington Post that on the same day as the successful strike on Soleimani, there was a second, failed anti-Iranian operation. That operation, which the administration neglected to tell us about, targeted Abdul Reza Shahlai, described in the Post as “a financier and key commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force who has been active in Yemen.”
That this happened is a further nail in the coffin of the idea that the Soleimani strike was about disrupting an imminent threat as opposed to a broader shift in policy. That the administration kept this quiet, even as it went on a multi-day victory tour about killing Soleimani, is further confirmation that fundamentally, it is not leveling with us about what it is doing and why.
And that’s unacceptable.
Trump is, of course, notorious for lying about all kinds of things. And the national security sector, accustomed as it is to dealing in classified matters and state secrets, seems in some ways to be instinctively unbothered by deception. But in reality, this kind of lying is especially dangerous.
The public is highly motivated to protect American lives, as are members of Congress who are responsive to the public. They would be willing to go further in terms of killing foreigners to actually defend Americans in a specific way than they would to, say, advance Saudi Arabia’s regional ambitions with regard to Iran. And if Iran responds to American acts with new rounds of aggression that kill more Americans, the public is likely to support further escalation against Iran, and who knows where that will end.
This dynamic is already clearly in place in the larger question of the Iran nuclear deal, the specific elements of which Trump keeps lying about. Iran’s aggressive behavior against the US is clearly linked to Trump’s decision to abrogate the deal. Trump keeps saying he did so because Iran was cheating, which, if it were true, would be a good reason to abrogate the deal. But it wasn’t true.
Now, though, US-Iran relations have deteriorated to a point where Iran is refusing to abide by the limits in the agreement. If you lack the original context that the US pulled out of the deal despite Iranian compliance, Iran’s actions could be seen as justifying new anti-Iran moves from the US.
By the same token, killing Iranian officials could be a highly effective way of provoking Iranian retaliations that inflame American opinion and drive support for aggressive acts that the public wouldn’t otherwise get behind. The key way to break the cycle is to demand that the American government give a clear, convincing, and honest account of what it is doing and why — and to stop treating its refusal to do so as a secondary plot, when in fact it’s at the very heart of the story.
The quake was about 8 miles south of Indios, Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea, the USGS said, at a depth of 6.2 miles.
Puerto Rico has been rattled by temblors throughout the week, including a 6.4 magnitude quake Tuesdaythat killed at least one man, destroyed homes and left most of the island without power. A 5.2 magnitude aftershock struck on Friday afternoon.
The US territory was expecting power to return by Saturday to its 3 million residents, and authorities had tweeted that it was 95% restored a couple of hours before Saturday's quake.
Parts of Lares, Adjuntas, Ponce and San German lost electrical service after Saturday's quake, the power company Electric Energy Authority said.
After the tremor, power was on to about 93% of the island, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority said.
Since December 28, about 500 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or higher have hit Puerto Rico, the USGS said.