MP: US Downing Of Iranian Passenger Plane, Blot On Mankind’s History

Tabriz, July 3, IRNA – A member of the Parliament’s presiding board said here Monday that the downing of an Iranian passenger place by USS Vincennes over Persian Gulf and awarding of that warship commander by US officials is a shameful blot on history of mankind. Ali-Reza Monadi referring to the tragic event on July 3rd, 1988, which led to martyrdom of 296 innocent people, added in an interview with IRNA Monday, “In order to whitewash their image before the world public opinion, the US officials announced that they had made a mistake in identification of the plane, and that was the reason why they had targeted it.” The representative of Tabriz, Osku, and Azarshahr Constituency at the Islamic Parliament calling the US claims on human rights “sheer lies”, added, “The United States is a self-claimed defender of the human rights, while the US has the darkest possible record of committing the worst crimes against the human beings around the globe.” The USS Vincennes is best known for shooting down an Iranian civilian passenger jetliner, Iran Air Flight 655, over the Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988, killing all 290 civilians on board (including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children), sparking an international condemnation of the brutal act of war against totally non-military individuals. On July 3, 1988, Vincennes, under the command of Captain Will Rogers III, fired two radar-guided missiles and shot down an Iran Air Airbus A300 civilian airliner over Iranian airspace in the Strait of Hormuz, killing all 290 passengers and crew on board./end