Anniversary of Iran Air 655 tragedy offers lessons for US-Iran diplomacy today
Iran Air 655’s bitter legacy; Iraq as front line; Iran should talk … but it needs off-ramps.
This week Iranian President Hassan Rouhani marked the 31-year anniversary of the day a US warship in the Persian Gulf mistakenly shot down Iran Air flight 655, killing 290 Iranians. In the same speech he warned that Iran would reduce its commitment to the Iran nuclear deal “in an attempt to save it.”
Whether intentional or not, the reference to flight 655 has parallels and lessons for the present US-Iran crisis, including the centrality of Iraq in US-Iran tensions and the need for diplomatic off-ramps to allow parties face-saving means to step back from confrontation.
Iran Air 655’s bitter legacy
Rouhani said this week that Iran Air 655 “proved that committing crimes is easy for Americans.” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the downing of the plane is a reminder that “US aggression against Iran did not begin with @realdonaldtrump.”
