TEHRAN- The Foundation for Preservation of Sacred Defense Works and Values has issued a statement commemorating the anniversary of the brutal US naval attack on Iran Air Flight 655, condemning the enduring silence of Western societies regarding the atrocity.
In its statement, the Foundation described the events of July 3 as a reminder of one of the most painful and inhumane crimes of contemporary history. The statement highlighted that 290 innocent lives were martyred in an act of extreme cruelty and a blatant violation of all international legal norms.
“This crime is not only a shameful stain on the forehead of those who falsely claim to champion human rights, but it stands as a clear symbol of the oppressive and violent nature of the US imperialist system against independent nations,” the statement read. “It shall never be erased from the historical memory of the Iranian people and will remain as an undeniable document of American brutality and lawlessness.”
The Foundation further emphasized that the Iranian nation, guided by the wisdom of the Great Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini, and following the visionary path of the martyred Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, will never allow the blood of the oppressed to be shed in vain.
The statement cast sharp criticism on the “deadly silence” of Western nations during and after the attack, asserting that such indifference served as a tacit endorsement of the “criminal behavior” of the United States. This silence, the Foundation argued, provided the emboldened hegemonic powers with the confidence to pursue further military interventions and massacres of oppressed peoples across the globe.
Concluding the statement, the for Preservation of Sacred Defense Works and Values honored the memory of the martyrs and condemned the global community’s apathy toward the successive crimes committed by oppressive regimes, specifically the “criminal United States and the occupying, child-killing Zionist regime.”
The Foundation asserted that the only path toward dignity and resilience against these corrupt governments lies in the unity of the Islamic Ummah and the cohesion of the honorable Iranian nation under the enlightening guidance of the new Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei.
On July 3, 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War, the USS Vincennes, a US Navy warship, shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people on board. As the deadliest aviation disaster in Iranian history, the incident led to a prolonged dispute: the United States claimed the Airbus A300 was misidentified as an F-14 fighter jet, while Iran maintained that the shootdown was a reckless violation of international law.
The tragedy was eventually settled in 1996 at the International Court of Justice, with the US providing $61.8 million in ex gratia payments to the victims’ families and two replacement aircraft to Iran Air, although it did not formally admit legal liability.
SAB/
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