TEHRAN -- An independent member of the European Parliament from Ireland says the United States’ pursuit of power has done more harm since 1945 than all other countries.
In a tweet, Mick Wallace said Washington shows no respect for the UN Charter or International Law, urging the European Union to stop supporting the “U.S. aggression”.
“U.S. Imperialism has done more harm since 1945 than all the rest of the countries in the world. Their pursuit of Power, Influence and Financial Gain continues, showing no respect for the UN Charter or International Law. The EU must stop supporting U.S. aggression,” Wallace wrote.
Wallace retweeted a post by Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif, commemorating the anniversary of the U.S. downing of an Iranian commercial airliner in 1988 over Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf.
In his tweet, Zarif said on Saturday that “33 years ago today, U.S. shot down #IranAir655, killing all 290 civilians aboard. As a young diplomat, I witnessed U.S. refusal to apologize over the human tragedy it caused.”
“U.S. violence against Iranians began long before & continues today with Economic Terrorism against our people,” he added.
The plane, an Airbus A300B2 of Iran’s flag carrier, Iran Air, had just taken off from the southern Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas at 10:17 a.m. local time (UTC 0330) with 274 passengers and 16 crew members on board, and was climbing inside an internationally recognized route to Dubai when the U.S. cruiser, the USS Vincennes, fired two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles, one of which hit the plane.
U.S. officials claimed that their warship had mistaken the airliner for a supersonic and variable-sweep wing Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet.
The allegation was made even as the warship was equipped with highly sophisticated radar systems and electronic battle gear, and the passenger plane was transmitting Mode III 6760 squawk code, typical of a civilian aircraft, and maintained radio contact in English with appropriate air traffic control facilities.
The USS Vincennes’ captain, William Rogers, was later awarded the Legion of Merit for “outstanding service”.
Every year, Iranians toss flowers in the Persian Gulf to mark the anniversary and pay tribute to the victims of the terrible human tragedy, which retains the record for highest death toll of any aviation incident in the strategic body of waters.