On Wednesday, Iran commemorated the anniversary of the downing of its passenger plane by a U.S. Navy over the Persian Gulf waters. Flowers were flown to the Persian Gulf waters in memory of those killed in the unforgivable and heinous act.

On July 3, 1988, the USS Vincennes fired missiles at an Iran Air Airbus A300B2 which was flying over the Strait of Hormuz from the port city of Bandar Abbas to Dubai, carrying 274 passengers and 16 crew members.

Following the attack, the plane disintegrated and crashed into the Persian Gulf waters, killing all 290 on board, among them 66 children.

American officials claimed that their warship had mistaken the civilian aircraft for a supersonic and variable-sweep wing Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet.

At a ceremony marking the tragedy, the Bandar Abbas Airport was renamed after Flight 655 martyrs.

Similarly, a memorial ceremony was held at Mehrabad Airport at the presence of Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Transport Minister Mohammad Eslami and Touraj Dehghani-Zangeneh, the CEO of Iran Air.

Larijani said the U.S. has been spreading lies about the downing of the plane.

“They (the Americans) said the captain of the warship had made a mistake. If he did make a mistake, why did you award the captain? You should have punished him if he had made a mistake; therefore, you are lying,” he said.

The US has refused to apologize or admit legal liability for Iran Air Flight 655.