The downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes in July 1988 resulted in the deaths of all 290 people aboard, including 66 children. The incident occurred as the Airbus A300 was en route from Bandar Abbas, Iran, to Dubai.
The American warship reportedly misidentified the civilian airliner as a hostile aircraft. At the time of the attack, the USS Vincennes was engaged in operations in the Persian Gulf during heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
Pilots flying for Iran Air at the time, like the father of the author of this account, expressed disillusionment with the national airline, which had come to represent a state that had perpetrated violence and oppression. Many, including the father, were seeking to leave Iran and emigrate to Western countries. Captain Mohsen Rezaian, who was piloting Flight 655, had trained in Florida prior to the Iranian Revolution and shared the sentiment that Iran no longer offered a secure future.
Rezaian was among the many casualties of the incident. The father of the author, who also flew for Iran Air, continued his work for nearly a year after the downing of Flight 655, as he had no other profession and was in the process of arranging his family's emigration to Canada. He never returned to Iran and died abroad, with his grief serving as his only connection to his homeland.