Iran’s accidental
destruction of a Ukrainian passenger jet offers an opportunity to achieve peace
between the United States and Iran.
Iran’s acknowledgement of
the mistake is a step in the correct direction. Reuters[1],
the Washington
Post,[2] and other news sources reported
that Iran’s government invited Boeing to send someone to help study the plane’s
black box recorders. This is another step in the correct direction.
July
3, 1988 U.S. Accidental Destruction of Iranian Passenger Jet
Furthermore, as numerous
news stories have mentioned, there are parallels between Iran’s mistake and the
United States military accidentally shooting down an Iranian passenger jet that
was flying in Iranian air space on July 3, 1988.
In that case the U.S.
initially claimed that the United States Navy vessel USS Vincennes was in international
waters when it fired on the Iranian passenger jet, then later acknowledged the
ship was in Iranian waters. The U.S.
also initially claimed the Iranian passenger jet was descending toward the USS
Vincennes, but “a U.S. Navy report” stated that the Iranian passenger jet was
actually ascending “within the established air route” according to Britannica.com.[3]
All 290 on board the
aircraft died. Iran sued the United States government in the International
Court of Justice. A settlement reached between Iran and the United States
resulted in the U.S. paying millions of dollars to victims’ families according
to CNN[4]
and other news sources.
The U.S. has an excellent
opportunity to offer empathy and sympathy.
Opportunity
for Peace
Both Iran and the United
States have extra incentive to end the conflict between the two nations.
Protests by many Iranians
furious at initial denials by Iran’s leaders of culpability in the disaster as
well as at the disaster itself put pressure on Iran’s leadership. “Riot police
have been deployed in Tehran after tear gas was used to clear the streets of
protesters” according to the Guardian.[5]
Western nations (including
the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain) had reported the likelihood of an accidental
shoot down by Iran’s military days before Iran did. This delay by Iran in
acknowledging the error infuriates many Iranians.
Some Iranian protesters
are even urging the resignation of Iran’s leaders according to various news
sources including AlJazeera.[6]
France24[7] and
other news sources cited “many chanting ‘Death to the dictator’ ” in a reference
to Iran’s leader Khamenei. In addition to protesters against Iran’s government,
there were Iranian protesters against the United States and Great Britain
according to CBSNews[8]
and other sources.
Iran’s economy and thus
its residents face difficulties partially due to U.S. economic sanctions. If
Iran and the U.S. can work out a solution to their conflict that allows both
sides to save face, it will be great. Perhaps an intermediary can help with this.
The Swiss embassy in Iran has helped resolve conflicts between the U.S. and
Iran in the past by relaying messages between the countries, including in the
aftermath of the recent U.S. assassination of Iranian general Soleimani
according to a Wall
Street Journal article.[9]
Iran’s leadership is
under pressure to improve the economy and take corrective action for this
terrible accident. The United States under Trump prefers to avoid war as well.
The biggest obstacle to
peace may be the perception by the United States (and Israel) that Iran seeks
nuclear weaponry. While Iran denies it, it seems common sense that Iran would
seek such weapons as a way to stop United States interference in its country.
The UN Security Council’s permanent members, arguably the UN’s most influential
members, are nations with nuclear weapons. Sadly, military weaponry is what
leads to peace too often. And the United States is hypocritical in condemning
what it perceives as Iran’s desire for nuclear weapons while maintaining its
own huge arsenal of them.
If the United States
succeeds in convincing Iran it will cease seeking to interfere in selfish ways
in the Middle East, and Iran sincerely seeks to avoid its alleged support for
various so-called terrorist groups, peace is possible.
How Iran responds to the
protesters, and how both nations respond to the recent military actions of the
two nations, remains to be seen. But cooperation in investigating the Ukrainian
aircraft’s black box recorders can be a step toward cooperation in other areas.
Will Iran and the United
States take advantage of this opportunity to seek a just and lasting peace?
Time will tell.
ENDNOTES:
[1] Alexander
Cornwell, Parisa Hafezi; “Iran to probe black boxes after missile blamed for
plane crash”; Reuters; January 10, 2020; webpage accessed January 12, 2020; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-crash/iran-to-probe-black-boxes-after-missile-blamed-for-plane-crash-idUSKBN1Z9250
[2] Isabelle
Khurshudyan and Erin Cunningham; “Iran admits to shooting down Ukrainian
passenger jet because of ‘human error’ ”; Washington Post; January 10, 2020;
webpage accessed January 12, 2020; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-crash/iran-to-probe-black-boxes-after-missile-blamed-for-plane-crash-idUSKBN1Z9250
[3] “Iran Air flight
655”; Britanica.com; last updated January 8, 2020; webpage accessed January 12,
2020; https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Air-flight-655
[4] Brad Lendon; “In
1988, a US Navy warship shot down an Iranian passenger plane in the heat of
battle”; CNN; updated January 10, 2020; webpage accessed January 12, 2020; https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/middleeast/iran-air-flight-655-us-military-intl-hnk/index.html
[5] Michael Safi;
“Iran deploys riot police as backlash against government grows”; The Guardian;
January 12, 2020; webpage accessed January 12, 2020; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/12/iran-riot-police-anti-government-backlash-ukraine
[6] “Anger after Iran
admits downing plane: All the latest updates”; AlJazeera; January 12, 2020; webpage accessed
January 12, 2020; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/protests-iran-admits-downing-plane-latest-updates-200112055030204.html
[7] “Furious
protesters call for Iran’s Supreme Leader to step down in wake of downed
Ukrainian plane”; France24; January 12, 2020; webpage accessed January 12,
2020; https://www.france24.com/en/20200112-students-gather-tehran-mourn-victims-protest-iran-officials-response-downed-plane
[8] “Protests continue
into second day in Tehran after Iran admits it mistakenly shot down plane”;
CBSNews; January 12, 2020; webpage accessed January 12, 2020; https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/iran-plane-crash-tehran-protesters-defy-police-in-second-day-of-demonstrations-live-updates-2020-01-12/
[9] Drew Hinshaw, Joe
Parkinson and Benoit Faucon; “Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran
Crisis”; Wall Street Journal; January 12, 2020; webpage accessed January 12,
2020; https://www.wsj.com/articles/swiss-back-channel-helped-defuse-u-s-iran-crisis-11578702290
NOTE:
This article being
submitted to Google Blogger on January 12, 2020 is virtually identical to one
submitted earlier the same day to Craft News Report, a website operated by the
author’s friend Paul Craft.
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