Within less than ten days, the world witnessed the hollowness of Ali Khamenei's government, and now few would not acknowledge the duplicitous lies and charlatans of the regime.  Today, no one believes in the regime in Tehran, which claims to be a legitimate Islamic government.  In fact, according to an old Persian proverb, "whoever lies is the enemy of god."  Khamenei is not only the enemy of god, but also the enemy of his people and the whole of humanity in the region and many other parts of the world.  One may not find many places not affected by the hostility of the Iranian terrorist regime.  The shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane, which killed 176 people, including 71 men, 81 women, and 15 children was a crime against humanity.

From day one, the Iranian regime denied any missile attack on the passenger plane that killed so many innocent people.  Later, they blamed the crash on mechanical failures.  Fortunately, in the era of technology, such lies have short lives, and no one will be able to hide the truth for a long time.  No one, even the Iranian regime and its murderous authorities, can deny the lost lives of innocent people, many of them at young ages, holding millions of dreams.

In this respect, the mullahs' foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who is known for his lies, called the explosion incident Western-style propaganda.

Likewise, other government news agencies declared the cause of the accident a technical failure.  Ilna News Agency, on Jan. 8, 2020 wrote: "Boeing 737 passenger plane belonging to Ukrainian Airlines crashed after taking off from Imam Khomeini airport."

Instead of telling the truth to the people of Iran and the world, they refuse to admit that a missile hit the passenger plane, and it was brought down.  To admit to such barbarism and stupidity would have been a grave embarrassment for the regime of Iran.

After making all kinds of attempts to hide the real cause of the crash, a few days later, the mullahs' notorious regime confessed that a missile indeed hit the plane.  Khamenei, as the leader of this government, claimed that he was unaware of the cause of the crash.  However, in his previous speeches, he had made it clear that everything happening in the country is always checked with him before being implemented.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani blamed the United States for creating an atmosphere of anxiety and intimidation.  According to him, all military personnel were on alert, therefore shooting down a passenger plane was justified.  However, the question for Hassan Rouhani is that if the armed forces were on alert, why was the plane allowed to fly — a matter that is against the aviation protocols?

Many international observers have questioned the necessity of such a defense system is too close to a passenger airport.  On March 3, 2016, in an interview, Sardar Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force, talked about the regime's air defense system and said a low-ranking officer controls the system.  As soon as he is ordered, he fires the missiles.

The regime's high defense authorities blamed the firing of the missile on a single defensive unit.  In fact, the blame falls on Ali Khamenei as the commander-in-chief, along with President Hassan Rouhani and all the other higher-ups.

Now the regime has to face the reality of its own atrocities.  This regime must be held accountable.  This is not just an innocent incident; many lives have perished in vain, and the world must not opt for silence and indifference.  This incident exemplifies the situation of a regime in complete disarray that will do anything, including shooting down a passenger plane, to continue its illegitimate grasp on power.  This is the same regime that has been directly involved in the killing and displacement of millions of people in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.  The world should be aware of Iran's lies and false claims.

The first question that Iran's criminal authorities and Khamenei himself should answer is why, despite knowing about the missile attack on the passenger plane from the very beginning, the incident was disguised and hidden from the Iranian people and the international community.

In this regard, the prime minister of Canada also issued a statement, emphasizing that "Iran has admitted that it has struck Ukrainian plane, flight 752.  Our focus will be on auditing, transparency, and justice for victims' families.  We continue to work with our allies around the world to ensure a comprehensive investigation, and we expect the Iranian authorities to cooperate fully.

Ms. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, also declared that this incident is another major crime that the Iranian people neither forgive nor forget.