Bandar Abbas: Iranian helicopters scattered flowers into the Persian Gulf waters as family members and relatives remembered the 290 passengers killed when a US warship shot down an Iranian airliner 22 years ago.
About 250 relatives of victims and officials sailed from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to the spot where the Iran Air A300 Airbus was downed on July 03, 1988.
The USS Vincennes shot down the airliner shortly after it took off from Bandar Abbas for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Washington said the Vincennes mistook the airliner for a hostile Iranian fighter jet. Iran maintains it was a deliberate attack.
Saturday`s commemoration comes as Tehran is embroiled in a bitter standoff with the West over its controversial nuclear program.
Bureau Report
