Seyed Mohammad Hosseini made the remarks in a ceremony held on Monday on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the downing of the Iranian passenger plane by a US navy guided missile in the Persian Gulf in 1988.
The downing of the plane was by no means a mistake, but the measure was intentionally taken, he noted.
At that time, some sought to cover up the case through media hype in a bid to show it was just a normal aviation incident, Hosseini said,
"As many as 66 children, eight of whom were under 2 years old, were ordinary people who were on a trip that were targeted by the US missile," he said adding the US crime meant that it wanted to hit Iran at any cost.
On the morning of 3 July 1988, USS Vincennes was passing through the Strait of Hormuz returning from escort duty and fired a missile at Flight 655 at the behest of Captain William Rogers, Commander of the USS Vincennes.
Suddenly, the plane disappeared from the radar screen and crashed into the waters of the Persian Gulf. None of the US ships tried to help or search for survivors.
All 290 passengers on board including 66 children, died. Their bodies were recovered from the Persian Gulf and later buried.
TM/ 5826390
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