A TWEET by Iran’s president has revived a long-running conspiracy theory that the country was behind the Lockerbie air disaster.

The terror atrocity left 270 people dead after a bomb ripped through Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland in 1988.

5 The Lockerbie bombing in 1988 left 270 people dead Credit: AFP or licensors

5

5 Hassan Rouhani's tweet was seen by some as an admission that Iran was behind Lockerbie Credit: AFP

Libya was blamed for the disaster, and Libyan national Abdel baset al-Megrahi was jailed for 27 years in 2001.

But some have long believed Libya was framed and that the real culprit was Iran.

According to the theory, Iran paid Libya to bomb Pam Am 103 in revenge for the accidental downing of Iran Air Flight 655 six months earlier by the US.

The Airbus 300, known as IR655, was en route to Dubai from Tehran in July 1988 when it was shot down by a US Navy warship, killing 290 passengers and crew.

Now a message by Hassan Rouhani in the wake of the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani has sparked speculation of a cryptic confession.

US President Trump had warned 52 targets in Iran would be hit if Tehran retaliated — a reference to the 52 US nationals held hostage by Iranian revolutionaries at the US embassy in Iran in 1979.

President Rouhani responded: “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655.

“Never threaten an Iranian nation.”

Rouhani seems to be taking responsibility for Lockerbie Kyle Orton, Middle East researcher

Combined with the hashtag IR655, the “290” could only refer to the Iran Air screw-up.

But the line about “never threatening Iran” was taken by some as an admission that Tehran carried out the Lockerbie bombing just months later as revenge.

Fatima Alasrar, a Middle East analyst from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote: “Rouhani is basically reminding @realDonaldTrump of the #Iranian Air Flight 655 carrying 290 passengers which was downed by a US navy warship the Vincennes in 1988.

“Though it was deemed a human error, Tehran worked covertly to exact its revenge. How? #Lockerbie.”

Middle East analyst Kyle Orton agreed, tweeting: “The accidental shoot-down of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988 convinced Khomeini to accept the ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War.

“It has long been suspected that the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie five months later was Iran’s revenge. Rouhani seems to be taking responsibility.”

5 The bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 in 1988 left 290 people dead Credit: AFP or licensors

Lockerbie: A terror atrocity Pan Am Flight 103 was flying from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York on 21 December 1988. While over the Scottish town of Lockerbie a bomb was detonated aboard the plane called Clipper Maid of the Seas. All 259 on board, including 35 Syracuse University students returning home for the holidays, were killed. Eleven of the town’s residents on the ground were also killed by falling debris, bringing the death toll to 270. Adding to the horror, bodies of the passengers were left strewn around the town and its surrounding countryside. Following a three-year investigation by local police and the FBI two Libyans were issued with arrest warrants for murder. In 1999 Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, handed over the men for trial and eventually Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for life in 2001 after being convicted of 270 counts of murder. But Western spies have long suspected Iran had a hand in the atrocity. And a Jordanian terrorist’s daughter claimed in 2018 that he oversaw the planning of the attack – after striking a “deal with Iran”.

Some observers said that theory did not add up given US intelligence agencies would have welcomed any evidence of Iranian involvement in the Lockerbie bombing — no matter how flimsy — because it would have justified the war they had wanted since the 1970s.

Others pointed out Colonel Gaddafi, who was assassinated in 2011, had taken full responsibility for Pam Am 103 and facilitated Libya’s huge payout to victims’ families on the 20th anniversary of the attack.

But some Western analysts continue to believe Lockerbie was Iran’s handiwork.

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BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson wrote in the Daily Mail: “Colonel Gaddafi’s Libya got the blame but many people in the American and British intelligence community believe that Iran gave the original instructions for the attack, to avenge the shooting down of the Airbus.”

Robert Black QC, professor emeritus of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh, told the National: “He’s saying that Iran responded to those Iranian deaths caused by US action.

“The only response that I can think of was the bombing of Pan Am 103 six months later.”

A version of this article first appeared on news.com.au.

5 Qasem Soleimani was killed in Iraq in a US drone strike last week Credit: PA:Press Association

Lockerbie aftermath: Aerial footage shows the devastation caused by the 1998 terror attack



