Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Iran Air Flight 665

Iran Air Flight 655 was ascheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas thatwas shot down on 3 July 1988 by an SM-2MR surface-to-air missilefired from USS Vincennes, a guided-missile cruiser of the UnitedStates Navy. The aircraft, an Airbus A300, was destroyed and all 290people on board were killed. The jet was hit while flying overIran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, along the flight'susual route, shortly after departing Bandar Abbas InternationalAirport, the flight's stopover location. The incident occurred duringthe Iran–Iraq War, which had been continuing for nearly eightyears. Vincennes had entered Iranian territory after one of itshelicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operatingwithin Iranian territorial limits.

The reason for the downing has beendisputed between the governments of the two countries. According tothe U.S., the Vincennes crew had incorrectly identified the Airbus asan attacking F-14 Tomcat, a U.S.-made jet fighter that had been partof the Iranian Air Force inventory since the 1970s. While the F-14shad been supplied to Iran in an air-to-air configuration, theVincennes crew had been briefed that the Iranian F-14s were equippedwith air-to-ground ordnance. The US military asserts that theVincennes had made ten attempts to contact the aircraft both onmilitary and on civilian frequencies, but had received no response. According to Iran, the cruiser negligently shot down the aircraft,which was transmitting IFF squawks in Mode III, a signal thatidentified it as a civilian aircraft, and not Mode II as used byIranian military aircraft. The event generated a great deal ofcriticism of the United States. Some analysts blamed the captain ofVincennes, William C. Rogers III, for overly aggressive behavior in atense and dangerous environment. In the days immediately followingthe incident, President Ronald Reagan issued a written diplomaticnote to the Iranian government, expressing deep regret. However, theU.S. continued to insist that Vincennes was acting in "self-defense".

In 1996, the governments of the U.S.and Iran reached a settlement at the International Court of Justicewhich included the statement "... the United Statesrecognized the aerial incident of 3 July 1988 as a terrible humantragedy and expressed deep regret over the loss of lives caused bythe incident ..." When former President Reagan was directlyasked if he considered the statement an apology, he replied, "Yes." As part of the settlement, even though the U.S. government did notadmit legal liability or formally apologize to Iran, it agreed to payUS$61.8 million on an ex gratia basis in compensation to the familiesof the Iranian victims. The shootdown was the deadliest aviationdisaster involving an Airbus A300, as well as the deadliest aviationdisaster in 1988. It was also the deadliest airliner shootdownincident until 2014, when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot downover Ukraine.

Background

In 1984, the war between Iraq and Iranhad expanded to include air attacks against oil tankers and merchantshipping of neighboring countries, some of whom were providing aid toIraq by shipping Iraqi oil. The Flight 655 incident occurred a yearafter the Iraqi Air Force attack on the U.S. Navy guided missilefrigate USS Stark on 17 May 1987, which killed 37 American sailors.U.S. naval forces had also exchanged gunfire with Iranian gunboats inlate 1987, and the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts hadstruck an Iranian sea mine in April 1988. Two months before theincident, the U.S. had engaged in Operation Praying Mantis, resultingin the sinkings of the Iranian frigate Sahand, the Iranian fastattack craft Joshan and three Iranian speedboats. Also, the Iranianfrigate Sabalan was crippled, two Iranian platforms were destroyedand an Iranian fighter was damaged. A total of at least 56 Iraniancrew were killed, while the U.S. suffered the loss of only onehelicopter, which crashed apparently by accident, and its two pilotswere killed. Tensions were therefore high in the Strait of Hormuz atthe time of the incident with Flight 655.