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Iran Air Flight 655
Civilian flight shot down by the U.S. in 1988 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Iran Air Flight 655[lower-alpha 1] was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3 July 1988 by two surface-to-air missiles fired by USS Vincennes, a United States Navy warship. The missiles hit the aircraft, an Airbus A300, while it was flying its usual route over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, shortly after the flight departed its stopover location, Bandar Abbas International Airport. All 290 people on board were killed.[1] The shootdown occurred during the Iran–Iraq War, which had been continuing for nearly eight years. Vincennes had entered Iranian territorial waters after one of its helicopters drew warning fire from Iranian speedboats operating within Iranian territorial limits.[2][3][4][5][6]
![]() An Iran Air Airbus A300, similar to the aircraft involved | |
Shootdown | |
---|---|
Date | 3 July 1988 (1988-07-03) |
Summary | Shot down by a missile fired from USS Vincennes; reason for shootdown disputed |
Site | Strait of Hormuz, near Qeshm Island, Iran 26°40′06″N 56°02′41″E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Airbus A300B2-203 |
Operator | Iran Air |
IATA flight No. | IR655 |
ICAO flight No. | IRA655 |
Call sign | IRANAIR 655 |
Registration | EP-IBU |
Flight origin | Mehrabad International Airport Tehran, Iran |
Stopover | Bandar Abbas International Airport Bandar Abbas, Iran |
Destination | Dubai International Airport Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
Occupants | 290 |
Passengers | 274 |
Crew | 16 |
Fatalities | 290 |
Survivors | 0 |
The reason for the downing has been disputed between the governments of the two countries. According to the United States, Vincennes's crew misidentified the aircraft as an F-14 Tomcat, a US-made fighter jet, despite it transmitting civilian identification codes and ascending rather than descending as expected. They assert that the Vincennes and other warships made eleven attempts to contact the aircraft on both civilian and military air distress frequencies, but received no response. Bandar Abbas acted as a joint civilian/military airport, and Flight 655 had departed behind schedule. The Iranian government maintains that the US recklessly shot down the aircraft, violating international law, after repeatedly provoking the Iranian forces, violating Iran's sovereignty in the process. Some analysts blamed the overly aggressive atitude of Vincennes's captain, William C. Rogers III, whilst others focused on more widespread problems and miscommunications onboard.
The United States was heavily criticised for the downing, especially in its initial response. Whilst not issuing a formal apology, American president Ronald Reagan issued a written diplomatic note to Iran, expressing deep regret. Despite Reagan accepting that this was an apology, the US continues to assert that the cruiser was acting in self-defence. In 1996, both governments reached a settlement in the International Court of Justice in which the US agreed to pay US$61.8 million (equivalent to $120 million in 2023) on an ex gratia basis to the families of the victims. As part of the settlement, the US did not admit liability for the shootdown.