The Downing of Iran Air Flight 655: Highlighting the Need for International Adjudication of Damages
![handle is hein.journals/sujtnlr13 and id is 664 raw text is: THE DOWNING OF IRAN AIR FLIGHT
655: HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED
FOR INTERNATIONAL
ADJUDICATION OF
DAMAGES*
On July 3, 1988, an Iran Air flight en route from Bandar
Abbas, in Iran, to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, was
destroyed when the captain of the U.S.S. Vincennes mistook
the airbus for a belligerent Iranian F-14 fighter and opened
fire on it.1 Two hundred and ninety persons were killed in the
accident.' Immediately upon receiving word of the tragedy,
President Ronald Reagan expressed sadness and regret over
the incident,3 but stated in a letter to Congress that he consid-
ered the matter closed.4 Maintaining its lawful right to oper-
ate in the international waters of the Persian Gulf,5 the United
States government dismissed the action as a legitimate act of
self-defense.6 Ten days later, however, the United States De-
partment of State (State Department) announced that while
the United States accepted no liablity in the incident, it would
nevertheless pay compensation to the families of the victims as
a humanitarian gesture.
The Iranian airbus tragedy was the latest in a number of
* Subsequent to the completion of this Note, but just prior to printing, the Bush
Administration announced that it had agreed to participate in an action brought by
Iran before the International Court of Justice concerning the downing of Iran Air
Flight 655. N.Y. Times, August 15, 1989, at 1 col.6. Through this action, Iran is
demanding a formal censure of the United States for shooting down the airliner,
and asking the Court to determine the amount of damages owed by the United
States for the loss of the plane, its crew, and passengers. Id. The decision of the
United States to accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice is
reportedly a result of an effort between it and the Soviet Union to increase the
credibility of international adjudication. Id.
1. N.Y. Times, July 4, 1988, at 1.
2. Id.
3. Iranian Airbus Tragedy, 88 DEP'T ST. BULL. 38 (No. 2136, Sept. 1988) [here-
inafter Airbus Tragedy].
4. Id. at 38.
5. Id.
6. Id.
7. N.Y. Times, July 12, 1988, at Al, col. 6.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/sujtnlr13&div=37&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Downing of Iran Air Flight 655: Highlighting the Need for International Adjudication of Damages
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