A funeral procession is held for six Pakistani and Indian nationals who were killed aboard Iran Air Flight 655, July 12, 1988, in Iran.

AP

In 1988, the US Navy accidentally killed 290 civilians when it shot Iran Air Flight 655 out of the sky.

In America, the attack has largely been forgotten, but it's never left Iran's national consciousness, and many believe that it wasn't an accident.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani referred to the tragic mistake on Twitter two days before Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 crashed after leaving Tehran.

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In 1988, the US Navy accidentally shot an Iranian plane out of the sky, killing 290 people.

The USS Vincennes was in the middle of a skirmish with Iranian gunboats when it saw Iran Air Flight 655 on its radar and confused the Airbus 300 for a fighter jet. After it failed to respond to the Navy's distress signals, the US shot it down with a missile. Everyone on board was killed.

Yet despite this shocking mistake, it's often forgotten in the US. In Iran, it remains a national outrage. Many don't believe that it was a mistake, but a warning from the US.

On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani referred to the tragedy via a tweet with the hashtag #IR655.

Two days later, Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 crashed after leaving Tehran, killing all 176 people on board. Multiple reports on Thursday said evidence indicates Iran accidentally shot down Flight 752 shortly after it launched a missile attack on US and coalition forces in Iraq.

Here's the story of Iran Air Flight 655.

In 1988, the Iraq and Iran war, which had been going on since Iraq invaded in 1980 and led to the deaths of about one million people, was winding down. The US had supported Iraq and Saddam Hussein through the conflict.

An Iraqi soldier with an assault rifle at the Khoramshar Front in Iran. War broke out between Iran and Iraq in 1980 and lasted until 1988 following disputes over border disagreements.

Jacques Pavlovsk y/ Sygma / CORBIS / Sygma / Getty

Sources: Washington Post, Washington Post

To monitor the situation, the US Navy was patrolling the Persian Gulf. Its main task was to protect oil routes from attacks. The Navy's rules of engagement weren't public, but, according to The New York Times, ships were told to be cautious to avoid the US entering the war or causing an "international incident."

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A Spruance class destroyer sails by a pair of Iranian command and control platforms set afire after being shelled by four U.S. Navy destroyers. The shelling is a response to a recent Iranian missile attack on a reflagged Kuwaiti supertanker. Persian Gulf, October 19, 1987.

Corbis / Getty

Source: The New York Times

The ship in question was the USS Vincennes, a 9,600-ton cruiser.

USS Vincennes, the cruiser that mistakenly shot down an Iranian passenger airline killing all aboard, at sea.

Time Life Pictures /US Navy / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty

Sources: Washington Post, The New York Times

The commanding officer was Capt. Will C. Rogers III. According to a Middle East correspondent from the time, he had been acting recklessly aggressive in the month before the incident. Yet he was later awarded the Legion of Merit, for his service as commander between 1987 and 1989.

Capt. Will C. Rogers III, Commanding Officer of the USS Vincennes, in 1988.

AP

Sources: Washington Post, Slate, The New York Times

On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes and another US vessel were caught in a skirmish with Iranian gun boats. The skirmish began just after 10 a.m. Forty minutes later, the US Navy fired at the gun boats, and sunk two of them. In initial reports, this was meant to have happened in international waters, but in 1992, it was established that it was in Iranian waters.

The crew of the USS Vincennes stands at attention to salute the USS Samuel B. Roberts which left the Persian Gulf, July 3, 1988.

Greg English / AP

Sources: Washington Post, The New York Times, Slate

At 10.15 a.m., Iran Air Flight 655 took off from nearby Bandar Abbas International Airport. The commercial flight was on an Airbus 300, and had 290 people on board. It was headed for Dubai. But at 10.47 a.m., the USS Vincennes' radar picked up the flight.

A Boeing 747 Iran Air plane sitting on the ground at Dubai International Airport during deplaning and maintenance.

Barry Iverson/The LIFE Images Collection / Getty

Sources: Washington Post, The New York Times

In the 1970s, the US had supplied Iran with 80 F-14 fighter jets. This could explain why when personnel on the USS Vincennes saw the Airbus 300 on its radar they thought it was a fighter jet. It's also worth noting that the airport was used by Iran's military along with civilian flights.

grumman f 14 f14 tomcat fighter jet US_Navy_051105 F 5480T 005_An_F 14D_Tomcat_conducts_a_mission_over_the_Persian_Gulf region

Rob Tabor/USAF

Sources: Washington Post, The New York Times

At 10.49 a.m., the USS Vincennes sent distress signals asking Iran Air 655 to identify itself, but it didn't. According to the Navy, the plane began to descend. This was later proven to be untrue. At 10.51 a.m., it was warned again. In total, the Navy said it warned the plane seven times — three by a civilian channel, and four by a military channel.

A replica of the Iran Air flight 655 floats in the sea as Iranians throw flowers to mark the 21st anniversary of the downing of the plane by the US navy.

Abolfath Davari / AFP / Getty

Sources: The New York Times, Slate

At 10.51 a.m., the flight was declared hostile. Three minutes later, when it was nine miles away, the US shot Iran Air 655 out of the sky with a surface-to-air missile.

Crew member of USS Vincennes performs a daily maintenance check of a Mark 26 Guided missile in 2002.

Gabriel Mistral / Getty

Source: The New York Times

The plane crashed into the water. Neither one of the US ships tried to help, or search for survivors.

An Iranian boy scatters flowers in the sea Tuesday, July 3, 2007, during a ceremony commemorating the 19th anniversary of the U.S. warship Vincennes missile attack on an Iranian airliner.

Abolfath Davari / ISNA / AP

Source: The New York Times

Every one of the 290 passengers, 66 of whom were children, died. Their bodies were recovered from the Gulf and later buried.

People looking for family members walk amid bodies of victims from Iran Air Flight 655 in a morgue in Bandar Abbas, July 4, 1988, a day after the USS Vincennes shot the passenger jet down over the Persian Gulf, killing 290 passengers and crew members, including 66 children.

Mohammad Sayyad / AP

Sources: The New York Times, The New York Times

Iran mourned. This man was a pilot whose wife was a crew member on the flight.

An Iran Air pilot mourns over the casket of his wife, Mina Motevaly, a crew member of Iran Air Flight 655 that was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the U.S. naval ship USS Vincennes, in Tehran, Iran, July 7, 1988.

Mohammad Sayyad / CP / APTehran called the tragedy a "barbaric massacre."

Iranian mourners in Tehran carry one of 72 caskets to the Cemetery of Martyrs after attending a mass funeral and

APThousands of Iranians chanted "Death to America," in a mass funeral for those who died.

Thousands of Iranians chanting

Mohammad Sayyad / APAlongside the grief, Iran was outraged. Many in Iran's government didn't believe the attack was an accident at all, but a message sent by the US. In response to the attack, Iran's government said it would "avenge the blood of our martyrs."

An Iranian speaker chants anti-american slogans, 04 July 1988 in Dubai, to a crowd of several Muslims, mourning the deaths of the 290 passengers killed by the US navy on Iran Air flight 655.

Norbert Schiller / AFP / Getty

Sources: The New York Times, Newsweek

President Ronald Reagan and Admiral William Crowe defended the US Navy's actions. They both said Roger's first responsibility had been the safety of his ship and crew. Crowe told media he had "sufficient latitude" to defend his crew. "They do not have to be shot at before responding," he said.

President Reagan (L) with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. William Crowe at Fort McNair in 1988.

Dirck Halstead/The LIFE Images Collection / Getty

Source: The New York Times

Iran called on the UN to step in and censure the US. But some American politicians didn't take Iran's demand seriously. As George H. W. Bush campaigned to be president month later, he said, "I will never apologize for the United States — I don't care what the facts are."

US Vice Pres. George H. W. Bush attending a rally at the Waldorf Hotel during his campaign for the US presidency.

Cynthia Johnson/The LIFE Images Collection / Getty

Sources: Slate, Newsweek

Seven weeks after the attack, the Pentagon released an official report of what happened, written by Rear Admiral William Fogarty. It said Iran was also responsible for allowing the plane to fly low while the battle waged. But it found a number of discrepancies — the flight had never descended, it was flying in commercial airspace, and it explained why the flight failed to respond to distress signals.

Investigating officer Rear Admiral William Fogarty testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the downing of the Iranian airbus by the USS Vincennes.

Bettmann / Getty

Sources: Slate, Newsweek

In 1996, the US government paid Iran $131.8 million for compensation. Victims' families received about $62 million of it. The Clinton administration expressed "deep regret," for what had happened, but the US has never formally apologized.

bill clinton

Time Life Pictures/White House/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Sources: Slate, Newsweek

In the years since, the tragic incident has mostly been forgotten in the US. In Iran, it remains an open sore. Here, a poster shows the Statue of Liberty setting the flight on fire.

Tourists walk past a poster remembering the Iran Air flight 655 which was shot down by United States Navy in 1988, killing all 290 people on board, at the Museum- Garden of Anti Arrogance, a museum housed in the former American embassy in Tehran.

Leisa Tyler/LightRocket / Getty

Sources: Slate, Newsweek

And every year, Iran's state media broadcasts footage of the wreckage to remember the tragedy. According to PBS, the attack remains in Iran's psychology, and changed how it ran its military. The attack showed Iran what the US could get away with.

Iranian men waiting for news of their closes read a special edition of the local English paper

Norbert Schiller / AFP / Getty

Sources: Newsweek, PBS

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