When the US Shot down an Iranian Commercial Plane
If you walked into any high school classroom in the United States and asked the students to describe their country's relationship with Iran, you'd probably hear words like "enemy" and "threat," maybe "distrust" and "nuclear." But ask them what the number 655 has to do with it, and you'd be met with silence.
Try the same thing in an Iranian classroom, asking about the United States, and you'd probably hear some of the same words. Mention the number 655, though, it's a safe bet that at least a few of the students would immediately know what you were talking about.
The number, 655, is a flight number: Iran Air 655. If you've never heard of it, you're far from alone. But you should know the story if you want to better understand why the United States and Iran so badly distrust one another and why it will be so difficult to strike a nuclear deal, as they're attempting to do at a summit in Switzerland this week.
The story of Iran Air 655 begins, like so much of the U.S.-Iran struggle, with the 1979 Islamic revolution. When Iraq invaded Iran the following year, the United States supported Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein against the two countries' mutual Iranian enemy. The war dragged on for eight awful years, claiming perhaps a million lives.
Toward the end of the war, on July 3, 1988, a U.S. Navy ship called the Vincennes was exchanging fire with small Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy kept ships there, and still does, to protect oil trade routes. As the American and Iranian ships skirmished, Iran Air Flight 655 took off from nearby Bandar Abbas International Airport, bound for Dubai. The airport was used by both civilian and military aircraft. The Vincennes mistook the lumbering Airbus A300 civilian airliner for a much smaller and faster F-14 fighter jet, perhaps in the heat of battle or perhaps because the flight allegedly did not identify itself. It fired two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 290 passengers and crew members on board.
From the Washington Post
The one eyed PC Brigade will point to this as proof of US and Western hypocricy
Let's hear the one eyed comments from both sides on this one :)))
Mussi, You are always such a gentleman - Thank you :)
The introductory verse of the thread is a quote from 
WP
Only put up for arguments sake - the rest can be found on link above
Solomon
Interesting but you didn't actually let people know about the Iranian Revolution. It was NOT an Islamic revolution, it was a PEOPLES REVOLUTION and came about because the PEOPLE were subjected to a murderous DICTATOR for decades. This dictator was not only helped to overthrow a democratically elected government by the USA but was also financially and militarily supported by the USA during his reign. The USA had bases in Iran and after the PEOPLES REVOLUTION, the USA was thrown OUT of IRAN.
THIS is why the USA supported the installation of and support of Saddam Hussein, to wage WAR on IRAN. This is WHY 'the war' dragged on for eight awful years. Although, it wasn't a war it was an illegal invasion by Iraq, under USA DIRECTION and FULL knowledge of all proposed and then actioned atrocities.
The next bit well okay but lets skip to the end bit.....
The navigable waters of the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran and is under their sovereignty - as recognised internationally. SO THEN why is the USA putting WAR SHIPS in or around Iran and forcing their strait to allow USA interests to pass through it?
Remember what the USA did when Panama refused to renew their agreement with the USA over the Panama Canal..... they dropped in military and murdered 7000 people and put their President in prison. Needless to say the Panama agreement was signed.