News - Middle East: Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the United States' serious and gross violations of human rights on the 36th anniversary of the downing of its passenger aircraft by a US Navy guided-missile cruiser over the Persian Gulf, which killed 290 people on board.

“On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, which was carrying 290 passengers and crew members, including 46 non-Iranian passengers and 66 minors under the age of 13. Not only the United States failed to apologize to Iran, but it also awarded the USS Vincennes’ commander a medal,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its official X account on Tuesday.

Following the attack, the plane disintegrated and crashed into the Persian Gulf waters, killing all 290 on board, among them 66 children.

US officials claimed the USS Vincennes had mistaken Iran Air Flight 655 for a warplane. This is while the warship was equipped with highly sophisticated radar systems and electronic battle gear at the time of the attack.

In 1990, the captain of the cruiser, William C. Rogers, was cleared of any wrongdoing, and was even awarded America’s Legion of Merit medal by then President George Bush for his “outstanding service” during operations in the Persian Gulf.

Separately, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned gross violations of human rights by the United States. Tehran said the White House officials are among the most dishonorable violators of human rights in the world.

    “The US has committed gross and organized violations of human rights through unilateralism and intensification of economic sanctions without authorization from the United Nations, and with intent to force governments to change their policies.”

The statement also condemned Washington's decades-long exploitation of economic sanctions as a tool of pressure on countries that are politically independent and opposed to its international practices.

Sanctions have had a significant negative impact on world nations, and deprived citizens in various countries of their natural and legal rights, it noted.

These unilateral actions, which run counter to international regulations and principles and are in violation of international human rights treaties and declarations, lay bare the widespread violations of human rights by the US administration, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

The statement also drew attention to the human toll of Washington’s reckless wars, its support for the crimes of the Israeli regime, its support for despotic regimes in suppressing the rights of their peoples, and its disregard of the inalienable rights of the oppressed Palestinian nation to self-determination.

Source: Press TV