IRAN: Remembering Iran Air 665 and the Vincennes

Iranians on Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary a U.S. missile attack on an Iranian civilian passenger plane that killed 290 people over the Persian Gulf toward end of the Iran-Iraq war.

The guided-missile cruiser Vincennes shot down Iran Air 665 shortly after it took off from the airport in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas en route to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. officials later described the shooting as a mistake but refused to apologize.

The incident took place on July 3, 1988, but its 20-year anniversary falls on July 2, 2008, in the Iranian calendar.

Iranians released pigeons into the sky and threw flowers into the Persian Gulf to commemorate the tragedy, according to the Associated Press.

Mourners chanted “Death to America.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking at a Cabinet meeting, called the attack a "crime" rooted in an "ideology which allows them to commit any crime in order to attain their goals."

Iran said it received $130 million in compensation for the crash in a settlement eight years later but remains bitter because the ship’s commander, retired Capt. William C. Rogers III of San Diego, was never prosecuted.

— Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

Photos:

Top, Iranians release pigeons to commemorate the shoot-down of Iran Air flight 665 in a U.S. missile attack 20 years ago. All 290 passengers and crew died. Credit: Abdolhossein Rezvani / Fars News Agency.

Bottom, an Iranian stamp commemorating the tragedy. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Comments

[Kristian Lewis]

Open hostilities existed between the Iranian government and the US government at the time. The US was openly supporting Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. Iran attacked US shipping and US naval vessels in the gulf with mines and gunboats. A US frigate had been hit by Iraqi Exocet missile with significant loss of life. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that this incident happened. I don't believe that the US Navy captain purposely engaged a civilian aircraft but I do believe that he should have been held culpable for the tradegy.

[I.J. Grimm]

I remember the incident well.

Once they gave the crew of the Vincennes combat medals for their "good work", the clock started running for retaliation. That clock finally ran out 6 months later when the Pan Am flight blew up over Scotland.

Even though an Iranian group took credit for Lockerbie, America had a big problem -- they couldn't blame the Iranians because Europe needed Iranian oil and the Iranians had the means, however crude, to mine the straits of Hormuz and stop all oil exports -- so they framed the Libyans, who had no strategic significance, the Egyptians and other Arabs didn't liked them anyway, and they had not enough oil that it couldn't be replaced by America's buddies, the Saudis, who ended up with more money in their pockets out of the deal.

The Libyans (with an economy 2% the size of America) eventually were extorted into paying the Pan Am families 10 billion dollars, whereas America only paid $130 million for killing 290 people (which didn't even cover the cost of the Airbus 300 owned by the Iranian Government), and that only after being brought to court.

But no mention of Vincennes yesterday when they released the Libyan, just rants from parents of Pan Am victims (no doubt called in from their mansions from the $10 MILLION tax free money they got for each victim which had been paid by Libya).

God will eventually punish all those involved.

[Bill Parham]

I had never even heard of this incident, but when I did I was shocked. Not only that it happened, but also the way it has been ignored by the media.

[fariborz]

Captain W.C.Rogers should be punished.

[newageblues]

Thisd was an act of incredible negligence by the US. The Iranian plane was a regularly scheduled flight that was late that day. As I remember it, this was the only civilian flight of the day that the US needed to keep track of. The refusal to apologize is also incredible.

[Nima]

They killed 290 innocent people in an instance and even no apologies. And Iranians are beasts again. You Americans better think about what your own governmet did and does all around the world.