A few days after the Iranians showed solidarity during the funeral of General Soleimani, they suffered when Tehran admitted to shooting the wrong plane.

Iranian military on 11/1 admitted shooting down Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Ukraine airline that killed 176 people on 8/1. They said they mistook the plane for a cruise missile.

Analysts say that other countries hold a lot of evidence that Iran has shot down the aircraft, so they have no other way but to admit. Iran must now calculate the next step. Countries have canceled flights to Iran and demanded a thorough, transparent investigation.

Those who lost loved ones in the accident could sue Iran, Richmond University law professor Carl Tobias, said. Iran could also face criminal charges for leaving airspace open during the attack, but pursuing such allegations would be complicated.

Apart from Iran, Ukraine and Canada are the two countries that lost the most citizens in the plane crash. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for financial compensation for the victims.

In 1988, the US military shot down Iran's Flight 655 on the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 people aboard. The US initially rejected it, but later admitted that the navy cruiser mistook the plane for an Iranian missile. The US refused to accept legal responsibility or apologize, which angered Iranians. Iran sued the United States in the International Court of Justice and eventually Washington accepted a settlement agreement, paying 61.8 million USD to the families of the victims.

Iranian scholar Afshon Ostovar said Tehran could look back on this case and try to show that its response would be very different from Americans. "However, they will want to blame someone anyway. Who it is I don't know," he said.

Iranian officials have sought to push part of the responsibility to Washington, citing the US's tensions by killing General Qassem Soleimani. "At a time when American adventurism caused tension, human error led to disaster," Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif wrote.

Tehran's take on the responsibility a few days after they gloated over the success of the missile strike on the US garrison base angered the domestic public. Iran tried to show supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei unrelated to the incident, saying that on January 10 he knew the truth and then asked the government to be transparent.

But that explanation cannot make people angry. "The authorities deceiving the public is as serious as a disaster," said the editor of the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). "The officials who deceive the media are also guilty. We are all ashamed."

Hundreds of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran to protest against Khamenei and IRGC leaders over the weekend. "Shameless people. Liars die," they shouted.

Suzanne Maloney from the Brookings Institution said the thing that made the Iranian public feel the most hurt was that Tehran had accurately and carefully retaliated against the US, causing no casualties to avoid escalating tensions. However, in the end, they shot the wrong aircraft, killing their own citizens.

Iran increasingly faces increasing challenges. They have been caught in tensions with the United States, involving a proxy war in the region, under US sanctions, have to deal with corruption and now face a backlash in the country.

This is in stark contrast to a few days ago, when Iranians unite in the funeral of Soleimani. "When Soleimani's funeral is placed next to anti-government protests, it is clear that the Iranians are fed up with both Trump and their own rulers, fed up with everyday life with unending tragedies." , Middle East analyst Vali Nasr writes.