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By Aresu Eqbali and Sune Engel Rasmussen

Iran has made arrests for the shooting down of an Ukrainian airliner that killed 176 people, as public outrage and calls for accountability grow.

The judiciary didn't elaborate on how many were arrested or identify those detained, but said it was in the early stages of the process to prosecute them. "We will investigate all the aspects of this issue," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said in remarks carried by state television.

He said Iran would also investigate whether "U.S. warmongering" was a main cause of the incident.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the country's judiciary to establish a special court of high-ranking judges and experts to hold to account those responsible for the plane crash. Iranian officials acknowledged over the weekend that its military shot down the plane by mistake.

Mr. Rouhani said accountability over the downing of the airliner was necessary not just for the sake of the crash victims but also to show accountability to the Iranian people.

"Anyone who should be punished will be punished," Mr. Rouhani said in a televised speech, his first public remarks since the plane was shot down. "The whole world will be watching our trial."

Write to Sune Engel Rasmussen at sune.rasmussen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 14, 2020 04:26 ET (09:26 GMT)

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