Wreckage from Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, photo by Mehr News Agency via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,434, February 3, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The display of fundamental incompetence, followed by denial and a cover-up, that accompanied the recent shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger airliner by Iran are reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s reaction to the explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in 1986—a response that marked the beginning of the end of the USSR. The Tehran regime’s combination of ineptness and self-protective lying similarly triggered an unprecedented voicing of criticism by Iranian citizens, suggesting that popular …read more
