🕷️ Crawler Inspector

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Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 51 (from laksa041)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa051.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk","crawl_time":1775541943,"first_indexed_time":1669943836,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,cnn!www,\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk s443","src_root_hash":"2312100192101524051","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"When the US Navy shot down Iran Air flight 655 in 1988 | CNN","meta_descriptions":["Two days before a Ukrainian passenger plane went down over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"CNN\n — \nTwo days before\na Ukrainian passenger plane went down\nover Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988.\nIran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988.\nRouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6.\nAd Feedback\nAd Feedback\n“Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet.\nThe number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the\nUS killing\nof top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.\nThe general’s\ndeath in a US drone strike\non January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense.\nFor more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.\nIran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships.\nThe fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed.\nOn April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half.\nFour days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation\nexchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship\n.\nThe Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown.\nThe US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers).\nA day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship.\nOn the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report.\nThat incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time.\nSubsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight.\nBut the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report.\nThe reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on.\nAboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14.\nIf the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report.\nUnder orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire.\nSeven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser.\nThe US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.”\nIran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families.\nTwo days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752\nwent down near Tehran\non January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake.\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an\nIranian surface-to-air missile\n.\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau.\nThe plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran\nfiring ballistic missiles\nat bases in Iraq housing US troops.\nAt the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran.\nIt was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988.\n“Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.”","attrs_markdown":"Thank You\\!\n\nYour effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much appreciated.\n\nClose\n\nAd Feedback\n\n[World](https:\/\/cnn.com\/world)\n\n[Africa](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/africa)\n\n[Americas](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/americas)\n\n[Asia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/asia)\n\n[Australia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/australia)\n\n[China](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/china)\n\n[Europe](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/europe)\n\n[India](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/india)\n\n[Middle East](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/middle-east)\n\n[United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/united-kingdom)\n\n[More]()\n\n[Africa](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/africa)   [Americas](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/americas)   [Asia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/asia)   [Australia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/australia)   [China](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/china)   [Europe](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/europe)   [India](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/india)   [Middle East](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/middle-east)   [United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/united-kingdom)\n\n[Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription\/all-access)   [Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)\n\nSubscribe\n\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\n[Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)   [Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription\/all-access)\n***\nEdition\n\n[US](https:\/\/us.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[International](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[Arabic](https:\/\/arabic.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\n[Español](https:\/\/cnnespanol.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n\nEdition\n\n- [US](https:\/\/us.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [International](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [Arabic](https:\/\/arabic.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n- [Español](https:\/\/cnnespanol.cnn.com\/?hpt=header_edition-picker)\n***\n[Africa](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/africa)\n\n[Americas](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/americas)\n\n[Asia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/asia)\n\n[Australia](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/australia)\n\n[China](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/china)\n\n[Europe](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/europe)\n\n[India](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/india)\n\n[Middle East](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/middle-east)\n\n[United Kingdom](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/united-kingdom)\n***\nFollow CNN\n\nDownload the CNN App\n***\n\n- [US](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us)\n  - 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[Sudoblock](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/games\/play\/sudoblock)\n  - [Sudoku](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/games\/play\/daily-sudoku)\n  - [5 Things Quiz](https:\/\/cnn.it\/5thingsquiz)\n- [About CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/about)\n  - [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/subscription?source=sub_web_footersubnav-link)\n  - [Photos](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/photos)\n  - [Investigations](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us\/cnn-investigates)\n  - [CNN Profiles](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles)\n  - [CNN Leadership](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/cnn-leadership)\n  - [CNN Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n  - [Work for CNN](https:\/\/careers.wbd.com\/cnnjobs)\n***\nDownload the CNN App\n\n# In 1988, a US Navy warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane in the heat of battle\n[![Brad Lendon](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/brad-lendon)\n\nAnalysis by [Brad Lendon](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/profiles\/brad-lendon), CNN\n\n5 min read\n\nUpdated 2:43 AM EST, Fri January 10, 2020\n\nLink Copied\\!\n\n**Unable to load video**\n\nPlease try again later.\n\nError occurred while fetching labs\n\nSubtitles\n\n- Off\n\nVideo appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit\n\n02:01   • Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nTensions with Iran  16 videos\n\n![ ](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nIran FM: We do not seek escalation of war\n\n01:31\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nThis is what a US-Iran war could look like\n\n00:10\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![iran weapons america](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nIran could use this drone for attacks\n\n02:14\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Ukrainian plane missile](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit\n\n02:01\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![us iran flags](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHow the US and Iran became enemies\n\n03:39\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Jake Tapper Mark Esper split](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTapper presses defense secretary on Iran intelligence\n\n03:50\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![iran tehran protests ukraine plane crash](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nVideo shows protests in Tehran as Trump tweets support\n\n02:16\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Anonymous Photos of crash site of Ukrainian plane - Laleh Park, Shahed Shahr, Iran](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nIran admits to shooting down Ukrainian passenger plane\n\n02:59\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![The White House released this photo of President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other officials in the Situation Room of the White House, on a further meeting about the Islamic Republic of Iran missile attacks on U.S. military facilities in Iraq.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHow the US response to Iran's attack unfolded behind the scenes\n\n03:18\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![avlon reality check us iran 100 years](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAvlon looks back at 100 years of US-Iran tensions\n\n03:30\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![iran missle map](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHere's how Iran's missiles could affect American targets\n\n02:38\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the White House on January 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. During his remarks, Trump addressed the Iranian missile attacks that took place last night in Iraq. ](https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/200108105905-04-trump-iran-statement-0108.jpg?q=x_3,y_218,h_1684,w_2993,c_crop\/w_250)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHear President Trump's full remarks on Iran\n\n10:21\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![base damage](https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/200108145004-base-damage.png?q=h_514,w_899,x_0,y_0,c_crop\/h_619,w_1100,c_lpad,b_rgb:061015\/w_250)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nImages appear to show damage to base housing US troops\n\n01:51\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![trump iran diplomacy ath sanger vpx \\_00000520.jpg](https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/200108123915-trump-iran-diplomacy-ath-sanger-vpx-00000520.jpg?q=x_385,y_30,h_742,w_1319,c_crop\/w_250)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nAnalyst on Trump's speech: There was a little for everyone\n\n01:37\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![missiles](https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/200107200529-missiles.jpg?q=x_408,y_289,h_619,w_1100,c_crop\/w_250)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nVideo appears to show missiles hit air base housing US troops\n\n00:53\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![(FILES) In this picture taken on September 14, 2013, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, is seen as people pay their condolences following the death of his mother in Tehran. For a man widely reported to be playing a key role in helping Iraq's routed military recover lost ground, Qassem Soleimani, 57, the commander of Iran's feared Quds Force, remains invisible. AFP PHOTO\/ISNA\/MEHDI GHASEMI (Photo by MEHDI GHASEMI \/ ISNA \/ AFP) (Photo by MEHDI GHASEMI\/ISNA\/AFP via Getty Images)](https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/200103161905-qassem-soleimani.jpg?q=x_0,y_277,h_2408,w_4280,c_crop\/w_250)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHow Soleimani used asymmetric warfare against Iran's enemies\n\n01:31\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![ ](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nIran FM: We do not seek escalation of war\n\n01:31\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nThis is what a US-Iran war could look like\n\n00:10\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![iran weapons america](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nIran could use this drone for attacks\n\n02:14\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Ukrainian plane missile](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit\n\n02:01\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![us iran flags](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nHow the US and Iran became enemies\n\n03:39\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\n![Jake Tapper Mark Esper split](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nVideo Ad Feedback\n\nTapper presses defense secretary on Iran intelligence\n\n03:50\n\nNow playing\n\n• Source: [CNN](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/)\n\nSee more videos\n\nCNN\n\n—\n\nTwo days before [a Ukrainian passenger plane went down](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/is-iran-ukraine-plane\/index.html) over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988.\n\nIran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988.\n\nRouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6.\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\n> > Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. [\\#IR655](https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/IR655?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)  \n> > Never threaten the Iranian nation.\n> > \n> > — Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) [January 6, 2020](https:\/\/twitter.com\/HassanRouhani\/status\/1214236608196685824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)\n\n“Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. \\#IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet.\n\nThe number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the [US killing](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/pompeo-trump-iran-soleimani\/index.html) of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.\n\nThe general’s [death in a US drone strike](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/03\/middleeast\/baghdad-soleimani-lister-analysis-intl\/index.html) on January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense.\n\nFor more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.\n\nIran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships.\n\nThe fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed.\n\n![A picture taken May 17, 1987, of frigate USS Stark which was hit by two Exocet missiles fired from an Iraqi fighter jet during the Iran-Iraq war.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nA picture taken May 17, 1987, of frigate USS Stark which was hit by two Exocet missiles fired from an Iraqi fighter jet during the Iran-Iraq war.\n\nMIKE NELSON\/AFP\/Getty Images\n\nOn April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half.\n\nFour days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation [exchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2015\/09\/29\/politics\/uss-simpson-decommissioned-warship\/index.html).\n\nThe Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown.\n\nThe US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers).\n\nA day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship.\n\nOn the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report.\n\n![Thousands of Iranians chanting \"Death to America,\" participate in a mass funeral for 76 people killed when the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, in Tehran, Iran, July 7, 1988. They hold aloft a drawing depicting the incident. ](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nThousands of Iranians chanting \"Death to America,\" participate in a mass funeral for 76 people killed when the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, in Tehran, Iran, July 7, 1988. They hold aloft a drawing depicting the incident.\n\nMohammad Sayyad\/AP\n\nThat incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time.\n\nSubsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight.\n\nBut the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report.\n\nThe reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on.\n\nAboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14.\n\n![The guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes is pictures off Honolulu in 2005.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg)\n\nThe guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes is pictures off Honolulu in 2005.\n\nUS Navy\n\nIf the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report.\n\nUnder orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire.\n\nSeven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser.\n\nThe US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.”\n\nIran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families.\n\n[![ukraine airlines iran plane crash mobile screen grab](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Obtained by Nariman Gharib video Related video Cuomo: How could Iran have made this fatal mistake?](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/videos\/world\/2020\/01\/10\/iran-plane-crash-video-aviation-military-analysis-cpt-vpx.cnn)\n\nTwo days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 [went down near Tehran](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/07\/middleeast\/plane-crash-iran-intl-hnk\/index.html) on January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake.\n\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an [Iranian surface-to-air missile](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/is-iran-ukraine-plane\/index.html).\n\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau.\n\nThe plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran [firing ballistic missiles](https:\/\/cnn.com\/2020\/01\/08\/politics\/trump-iran-retaliation-missile-attacks\/index.html) at bases in Iraq housing US troops.\n\nAt the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran.\n\nIt was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988.\n\n“Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.”\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\nSubscribe\n\nSign in\n\nMy Account\n\n- [Settings](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/account\/settings)\n- [Newsletters](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/newsletters)\n- [Topics you follow](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/follow?iid=fw_var-nav)\n- [Sign out](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk)\n\nYour CNN account Sign in to your CNN account\n***\n[Listen](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/audio)   [Watch](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/watch)\n***\n- [US](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/us)\n  - 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A Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All Rights Reserved.   \n CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.\n\n## Download the CNN app\nScan the QR code to download the CNN app on Google Play.\n\n![Scan the QR code to download the CNN app from Google Play.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/google-play-cnn-app-qr-code.png)\n\n## Download the CNN app\nScan the QR code to download the CNN app from the Apple Store.\n\n![Scan the QR code to download the CNN app from the Apple Store.](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/app-store-cnn-app-qr-code.png)\n\n![CNN Logo](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/media\/sites\/cnn\/cnn.svg)\n\n## Legal Terms and Privacy\nBy clicking Agree, you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and agree to the collection and use of your information by cookies and similar technologies, as set forth in our Privacy Policy.\n\nBy clicking \"Agree\", you have read and agree to the [Terms of Use](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/terms) and agree to the collection and use of your information by cookies and similar technologies, as set forth in our [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/privacy).\n\n[Agree](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/10\/middleeast\/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk)","attrs_readable_markdown":"CNN —\n\nTwo days before [a Ukrainian passenger plane went down](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/is-iran-ukraine-plane\/index.html) over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988.\n\nIran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988.\n\nRouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6.\n\nAd Feedback\n\nAd Feedback\n\n“Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. \\#IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet.\n\nThe number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the [US killing](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/pompeo-trump-iran-soleimani\/index.html) of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.\n\nThe general’s [death in a US drone strike](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/03\/middleeast\/baghdad-soleimani-lister-analysis-intl\/index.html) on January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense.\n\nFor more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.\n\nIran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships.\n\nThe fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed.\n\nOn April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half.\n\nFour days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation [exchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship](https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2015\/09\/29\/politics\/uss-simpson-decommissioned-warship\/index.html).\n\nThe Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown.\n\nThe US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers).\n\nA day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship.\n\nOn the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report.\n\nThat incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time.\n\nSubsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight.\n\nBut the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report.\n\nThe reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on.\n\nAboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14.\n\nIf the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report.\n\nUnder orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire.\n\nSeven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser.\n\nThe US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.”\n\nIran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families.\n\nTwo days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 [went down near Tehran](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/07\/middleeast\/plane-crash-iran-intl-hnk\/index.html) on January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake.\n\nCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an [Iranian surface-to-air missile](https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/01\/09\/politics\/is-iran-ukraine-plane\/index.html).\n\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau.\n\nThe plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran [firing ballistic missiles](https:\/\/cnn.com\/2020\/01\/08\/politics\/trump-iran-retaliation-missile-attacks\/index.html) at bases in Iraq housing US troops.\n\nAt the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran.\n\nIt was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988.\n\n“Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.”","meta_canonical":null}

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URL	https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk
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Meta Title	When the US Navy shot down Iran Air flight 655 in 1988 \| CNN
Meta Description	Two days before a Ukrainian passenger plane went down over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988.
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Boilerpipe Text	CNN — Two days before a Ukrainian passenger plane went down over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988. Iran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988. Rouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet. The number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the US killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The general’s death in a US drone strike on January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense. For more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships. The fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed. On April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half. Four days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation exchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship . The Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown. The US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers). A day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship. On the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report. That incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time. Subsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight. But the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report. The reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on. Aboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14. If the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report. Under orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire. Seven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser. The US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.” Iran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families. Two days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 went down near Tehran on January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile . British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau. The plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran firing ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq housing US troops. At the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran. It was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988. “Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.”
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Unable to load video Please try again later. Error occurred while fetching labs Subtitles - Off Video appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit 02:01 • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Tensions with Iran 16 videos ![ ](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Iran FM: We do not seek escalation of war 01:31 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Video Ad Feedback This is what a US-Iran war could look like 00:10 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![iran weapons america](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Iran could use this drone for attacks 02:14 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Ukrainian plane missile](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit 02:01 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![us iran flags](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback How the US and Iran became enemies 03:39 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Jake Tapper Mark Esper split](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Tapper presses defense secretary on Iran intelligence 03:50 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![iran tehran protests ukraine plane crash](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Video shows protests in Tehran as Trump tweets support 02:16 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Anonymous Photos of crash site of Ukrainian plane - Laleh Park, Shahed Shahr, Iran](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Iran admits to shooting down Ukrainian passenger plane 02:59 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![The White House released this photo of President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other officials in the Situation Room of the White House, on a further meeting about the Islamic Republic of Iran missile attacks on U.S. military facilities in Iraq.](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback How the US response to Iran's attack unfolded behind the scenes 03:18 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![avlon reality check us iran 100 years](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Avlon looks back at 100 years of US-Iran tensions 03:30 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![iran missle map](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Here's how Iran's missiles could affect American targets 02:38 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the White House on January 08, 2020 in Washington, DC. During his remarks, Trump addressed the Iranian missile attacks that took place last night in Iraq. ](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200108105905-04-trump-iran-statement-0108.jpg?q=x_3,y_218,h_1684,w_2993,c_crop/w_250) Video Ad Feedback Hear President Trump's full remarks on Iran 10:21 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![base damage](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200108145004-base-damage.png?q=h_514,w_899,x_0,y_0,c_crop/h_619,w_1100,c_lpad,b_rgb:061015/w_250) Video Ad Feedback Images appear to show damage to base housing US troops 01:51 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![trump iran diplomacy ath sanger vpx \_00000520.jpg](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200108123915-trump-iran-diplomacy-ath-sanger-vpx-00000520.jpg?q=x_385,y_30,h_742,w_1319,c_crop/w_250) Video Ad Feedback Analyst on Trump's speech: There was a little for everyone 01:37 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![missiles](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200107200529-missiles.jpg?q=x_408,y_289,h_619,w_1100,c_crop/w_250) Video Ad Feedback Video appears to show missiles hit air base housing US troops 00:53 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![(FILES) In this picture taken on September 14, 2013, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, is seen as people pay their condolences following the death of his mother in Tehran. For a man widely reported to be playing a key role in helping Iraq's routed military recover lost ground, Qassem Soleimani, 57, the commander of Iran's feared Quds Force, remains invisible. AFP PHOTO/ISNA/MEHDI GHASEMI (Photo by MEHDI GHASEMI / ISNA / AFP) (Photo by MEHDI GHASEMI/ISNA/AFP via Getty Images)](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200103161905-qassem-soleimani.jpg?q=x_0,y_277,h_2408,w_4280,c_crop/w_250) Video Ad Feedback How Soleimani used asymmetric warfare against Iran's enemies 01:31 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![ ](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Iran FM: We do not seek escalation of war 01:31 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) Video Ad Feedback This is what a US-Iran war could look like 00:10 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![iran weapons america](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Iran could use this drone for attacks 02:14 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Ukrainian plane missile](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video appears to show Ukrainian airliner being hit 02:01 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![us iran flags](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback How the US and Iran became enemies 03:39 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) ![Jake Tapper Mark Esper split](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Video Ad Feedback Tapper presses defense secretary on Iran intelligence 03:50 Now playing • Source: [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/) See more videos CNN — Two days before [a Ukrainian passenger plane went down](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/is-iran-ukraine-plane/index.html) over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988. Iran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988. Rouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback > > Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. [\#IR655](https://twitter.com/hashtag/IR655?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > > Never threaten the Iranian nation. > > > > — Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) [January 6, 2020](https://twitter.com/HassanRouhani/status/1214236608196685824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. \#IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet. The number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the [US killing](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/pompeo-trump-iran-soleimani/index.html) of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The general’s [death in a US drone strike](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/middleeast/baghdad-soleimani-lister-analysis-intl/index.html) on January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense. For more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships. The fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed. ![A picture taken May 17, 1987, of frigate USS Stark which was hit by two Exocet missiles fired from an Iraqi fighter jet during the Iran-Iraq war.](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) A picture taken May 17, 1987, of frigate USS Stark which was hit by two Exocet missiles fired from an Iraqi fighter jet during the Iran-Iraq war. MIKE NELSON/AFP/Getty Images On April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half. Four days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation [exchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship](https://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/29/politics/uss-simpson-decommissioned-warship/index.html). The Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown. The US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers). A day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship. On the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report. ![Thousands of Iranians chanting "Death to America," participate in a mass funeral for 76 people killed when the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, in Tehran, Iran, July 7, 1988. They hold aloft a drawing depicting the incident. ](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Thousands of Iranians chanting "Death to America," participate in a mass funeral for 76 people killed when the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, in Tehran, Iran, July 7, 1988. They hold aloft a drawing depicting the incident. Mohammad Sayyad/AP That incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time. Subsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight. But the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report. The reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on. Aboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14. ![The guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes is pictures off Honolulu in 2005.](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) The guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes is pictures off Honolulu in 2005. US Navy If the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report. Under orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire. Seven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser. The US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.” Iran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families. [![ukraine airlines iran plane crash mobile screen grab](https://www.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg) Obtained by Nariman Gharib video Related video Cuomo: How could Iran have made this fatal mistake?](https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/01/10/iran-plane-crash-video-aviation-military-analysis-cpt-vpx.cnn) Two days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 [went down near Tehran](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/middleeast/plane-crash-iran-intl-hnk/index.html) on January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an [Iranian surface-to-air missile](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/is-iran-ukraine-plane/index.html). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau. The plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran [firing ballistic missiles](https://cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/trump-iran-retaliation-missile-attacks/index.html) at bases in Iraq housing US troops. At the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran. It was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988. “Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.” Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Ad Feedback Subscribe Sign in My Account - [Settings](https://www.cnn.com/account/settings) - [Newsletters](https://www.cnn.com/newsletters) - [Topics you follow](https://www.cnn.com/follow?iid=fw_var-nav) - [Sign out](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk) Your CNN account Sign in to your CNN account * [Listen](https://www.cnn.com/audio) [Watch](https://www.cnn.com/watch) * - [US](https://www.cnn.com/us) - [Crime & Justice](https://www.cnn.com/us/crime-and-justice) - [Immigration](https://www.cnn.com/us/immigration) - [Education](https://www.cnn.com/us/education) - [Transportation](https://www.cnn.com/us/transportation) - [Race & Identity](https://www.cnn.com/us/race-and-identity) - [World](https://www.cnn.com/world) - 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Readable Markdown	CNN — Two days before [a Ukrainian passenger plane went down](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/is-iran-ukraine-plane/index.html) over Tehran in the fog of battle this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reminded the world not to forget about something eerily similar — the shootdown of an Iran Air jetliner by a US Navy ship in 1988. Iran Air Flight 655, an Airbus A300 with 290 people on board, was blown from the skies by a missile fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Vincennes as it flew over the Persian Gulf from Iran to Dubai on July 3, 1988. Rouhani used that 290 number in a Twitter post on January 6. Ad Feedback Ad Feedback “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. \#IR655 Never threaten the Iranian nation,” he said in a tweet. The number 52 refers to the number of sites US President Donald Trump threatened to target in Iran if Tehran retaliated for the [US killing](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/pompeo-trump-iran-soleimani/index.html) of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. The general’s [death in a US drone strike](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/middleeast/baghdad-soleimani-lister-analysis-intl/index.html) on January 3 has ramped up tensions and rhetoric between Tehran and Washington. In 1988, the atmosphere in the Gulf was no less intense. For more than a year, the US Navy had been committed to protecting commercial shipping moving through the Persian Gulf endangered by the so-called “tanker war,” an offshoot of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iran had been trying to block resupply of Iraq through the waters of the Persian Gulf, laying mines and firing rockets at ships. The fog of war showed itself in 1987, when an Iraqi warplane mistook the frigate USS Stark for an Iranian tanker and fired two missiles at it. Thirty-seven US sailors were killed. On April 14, 1988, an Iranian mine struck the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, almost breaking the ship in half. Four days later, US warships tasked with taking out Iranian oil platforms in retaliation [exchanged missile fire with and sank an Iranian ship](https://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/29/politics/uss-simpson-decommissioned-warship/index.html). The Persian Gulf was no less chaotic on July 3, 1988, when Iran Air Flight 655 took off from Bandar Abbas, a joint military-civilian airport to which the Iranian military had moved some of its F-14 fighter jets, according to a US Navy investigation of the shootdown. The US military believed those Iranian F-14s were equipped with Maverick missiles that could strike US ships within a radius of 10 miles (16 kilometers). A day earlier, one of those F-14s had been warned off by the cruiser USS Halsey when it came too near the US ship. On the morning of July 3, the Vincennes was engaged in combat alongside the frigate USS Montgomery, exchanging fire with Iranian gunboats that were threatening a Pakistani tanker in the Gulf, according to the US Navy report. That incident was ongoing when Iran Air 655 left Bandar Abbas, almost half an hour after its scheduled departure time. Subsequent US Navy investigations of the incident showed the Iranian airliner was in an approved commercial airway and was identifying itself on air traffic control frequencies as a civilian flight. But the Iranian pilot was not warned of the ongoing hostilities in the area, even though the Bandar Abbas tower had issued warnings on similar previous occasions during the war, according to the US report. The reports also note that while the Iranian jetliner did not respond to warnings from US warships, its crew would not have been monitoring the channels those were broadcast on. Aboard the USS Vincennes, the ship’s captain was getting information that an unknown aircraft contacted by radar was not responding to calls. He was also told incorrectly that this contact could be an Iranian F-14. If the unknown aircraft was carrying those Maverick missiles, the US captain had less than five minutes to decide if his ship was in danger, according to the US report. Under orders issued after the USS Stark was hit by missiles a year earlier, essentially designed to err on the side of protecting US lives – and with just minutes to decide if his vessel was within range of missiles carried by an Iranian warplane – the captain of the Vincennes gave the order to fire. Seven minutes after takeoff, the Iran Air Airbus A300 was struck by surface-to-air missiles fired from the US cruiser. The US military later called it “a tragic and regrettable accident.” Iran sued the US government in the International Court of Justice in 1989. In 1996, the US and Iran agreed to settle the suit, with the US paying tens of millions of dollars in compensation to the victims’ families. Two days after Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 [went down near Tehran](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/middleeast/plane-crash-iran-intl-hnk/index.html) on January 8, world leaders were saying it was likely that Iranian anti-aircraft missiles had fired at the jet by mistake. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 63 citizens in the crash, said Canada’s intelligence, and intelligence provided by allies, shows that the Boeing 737 was shot down by an [Iranian surface-to-air missile](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/09/politics/is-iran-ukraine-plane/index.html). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed Trudeau. The plane went down just minutes after takeoff and within hours of Iran [firing ballistic missiles](https://cnn.com/2020/01/08/politics/trump-iran-retaliation-missile-attacks/index.html) at bases in Iraq housing US troops. At the time, the world was on edge wondering if Trump would order a retaliatory strike on Iran. It was not unlike the environment over the Persian Gulf in 1988. “Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side,” Trump said Thursday about the downing of the Ukrainian jet. “I have my suspicions.”
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