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Iran to Hold State Mourning Parade for Plane Crash Victims

Iran to Hold State Mourning Parade for Plane Crash Victims

(Bloomberg) -- Iran will hold a mourning ceremony Monday for the 176 victims of the Ukrainian passenger jet it accidentally shot down last week, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported.

A mourning parade has been timed to coincide with a Shiite martyrdom ceremony, ISNA said, citing an official. It will take place near Azadi Square, where hundreds gathered on Sunday to protest against the country’s leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for their Jan. 8 role in the disaster.

Iranian leaders admitted on Saturday after days of denial that the Guards shot down the Ukrainian International Airlines jet after mistaking it for a cruise missile at the height of its latest confrontation with the U.S. Iran said Sunday it was forming a task force to investigate the crash and compensate victims.

To contact the reporter on this story: Golnar Motevalli in Dubai at gmotevalli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lin Noueihed at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Paul Abelsky

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