Anti-government protesters attend a demonstration blaming the government for the delayed announcement of the unintentional downing of a Ukrainian plane last week, at the Tehran University campus in Tehran, Iran, Jan 14, 2020. (VAHID SALEMI / AP)

DUBAI/OTTAWA/TEHRAN - Iranians buried their dead from a Ukrainian airliner shot down by the military as authorities on Wednesday identified more of the 176 victims of last week's crash, which led to days of rage against Iran's rulers followed by a police crackdown.

Emotions have been running high as the victims of the Jan 8 crash are mourned. The national flag was ripped from the coffin of one victim when relatives collected the body and the mother shouted "Tear it off," an online video post showed.

Protesters took to the streets of Iranian cities for four days after the armed forces finally acknowledged on Saturday, after days of denials, that they had brought down the plane. In several places, demonstrators met a fierce police response.

Ali Abdollahi, deputy commander of Iran's Armed Forces General Headquarters, said that a possible disruption in Iran's radar network by US electronic interference may have caused the operator to mistake the Ukrainian plane for an incoming American cruise missile, according to Tehran Times daily

Just two months ago, a crackdown on protests caused by fuel price hikes killed hundreds of people.

READ MORE: Iran denies firing at protesters amid fury over downing of plane

Iran is battling on several fronts. A new international crisis has erupted over its nuclear program, the economy is in tatters under US sanctions and a long-running standoff with the United States briefly spiralled into open conflict.

The Ukrainian plane was downed by air defenses when the armed forces were on high alert for US reprisals, hours after Iran launched missiles against US targets in Iraq in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani on Jan 3.

An Iranian official said that a possible disruption in Iran's radar network by US electronic interference may have caused the operator to mistake the Ukrainian plane for an incoming American cruise missile, according to Tehran Times daily.

Ali Abdollahi, deputy commander of Iran's Armed Forces General Headquarters, said that a team has been established to investigate such a possibility, Xinhua reports.

Abdollahi said the operator who fired the missile at the plane had difficulty in receiving the message of the command center.

ALSO READ: Iran says crashed jet tried to turn back as missile theory revives

Crash investigators from Canada have visited the site of the crash and will examine the wreckage later on Wednesday, Transport Minister Marc Garneau said at a news conference. 

The investigators have not yet been granted access to the flight and cockpit recorders, Garneau added.

Ukraine is trying to establish whether Iran will hand over the black boxes containing flight data from the plane, a senior Ukrainian prosecutor was quoted by Interfax Ukraine as saying on Wednesday.

Universities across Canada held a moment of silence on Wednesday for victims, many of whom were academics, researchers and students linked to 19 Canadian universities. 

'UNFORGIVABLE ERROR'

Most of those on Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, bound for Kiev, were Iranians or dual citizens, many of them students returning to their studies abroad or families on their way home after seeing relatives in Iran.

The head of the coroner's office in Tehran said 123 of the 176 victims had been identified, ILNA news agency reported.

Several victims were buried in the sprawling Behesht-e Zahra cemetery south of Tehran, while others would be transferred abroad, Iranian media reported.

On Thursday, Canada, Ukraine, Britain and other nations who had citizens on the downed plane were to meet in London to discuss legal action against Iran, Ukraine and Canada have said.

Iran's military and top officials apologized for the "unforgivable error" in bringing the plane down and said it would prosecute those to blame. The judiciary said people had been arrested who were accused of having a role in the disaster.

The government has also sought to galvanize loyalists at home. A state-sponsored body has called for rallies on Friday to show support for the leadership and to commemorate "martyrs" of the plane disaster, Iranian media reported.

With Xinhua inputs