One week on from the disaster, Rouhani called for “national unity” in an address broadcast live on state television.

“If there was a delay” by the armed forces to release information about the air disaster, “let them apologise,” he said.

Rouhani also called for a full explanation of what happened in the air disaster, which came hours after Iran’s military fired a wave of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq…

Rouhani also said Iranians wanted “diversity” as he urged the electoral authorities to refrain from disqualifying would-be candidates for a February 21 general election.