Iranian Commander Says 1988 U.S. Bombing of Iranian Flight on PurposeA senior Iranian military commander said on Wednesday that the 1988 bombing of an Iranian flight over the Persian Gulf by the United States Navy was an act on purpose."The U.S. downing of the Iranian plane cannot be considered a mistake but demonstrated the depth of its hostility to Iran," Rear Admiral Mohammad Karim Tavakkoli told the Islamic Republic News Agency on the eve of the 12th anniversary of the tragic incident. Iran Air Flight 655, while flying from Iran to the United Arab Emirates, was shot down over the Gulf island of Hengam by two missiles fired from the U.S. Vincennes warship on July 3, 1988, killing all 290 passengers and crew on board. The U.S. later apologized and agreed to pay financial compensation to the families of the victims, saying the act was a mistake, for the Vincennes had taken the plane to be a military one. Tavakkoli, however, said the Vincennes could not have made a mistake in distinguishing a military plane from a passenger one, as it was the most modern missile launcher equipped with four computerized systems. The incident resulted in an intensification of hostility between the two states since they broke off ties in 1980 after Iran's Islamic revolution and the hostage taking in the U.S. embassy in Tehran by radical Muslim students. Recently, there have been allegations that Iran was involved in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lokerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground, in retaliation for the U.S. act. But Iran has denied any involvement in the incident. |
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