PRESSURE
Iran's leaders face a powerful combination of pressure both at home and abroad.
Just two months ago, Iran's authorities put down anti-government protests, killing hundreds of demonstrators in what is believed to be the most violent crackdown on unrest since the 1979 revolution.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, where Iran has wielded influence through a network of allied movements and proxies. Governments that include powerful Iran-sponsored armed factions have faced months of hostile demonstrations in Lebanon and Iraq.
The latest video posts on social media showed protesters in Tehran and other cities. Some tore down or burned posters of Soleimani, a man portrayed for years as a national hero.
Iran's president said in his address that those responsible for shooting down the plane would be punished, describing the military's admission of its mistake "a good first step."
Rouhani also said the government would be accountable to Iranians and those nations who lost citizens.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said five of the nations whose citizens were killed in the plane disaster would meet in London on Thursday "to discuss the ways, including legal, (for) how we are following this up."
Iranian state television said aviation officials from Canada, which had 57 citizens on the doomed flight, as well as from Iran and Ukraine met in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss the investigation.
