Iranians throw flowers into the sea to mark the 21st anniversary of the downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the US navy, at the port of Bandar Abbas on July 3, 2009. The plane was shot down by mistake over the Gulf by the US navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes during confrontation with Iranian speedboats on July 3, 1988, killing 290 civilian passengers and crew members. Both IR655 and the USS Vincennes were inside Iranian territorial waters at the time of the attack. Getty Images logo Getty Images 5 months ago

Iranians throw flowers into the sea to mark the 21st anniversary of the downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the US navy, at the port of Bandar Abbas on July 3, 2009. The plane was shot down by mistake over the Gulf by the US navy's guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes during confrontation with Iranian speedboats on July 3, 1988, killing 290 civilian passengers and crew members. Both IR655 and the USS Vincennes were inside Iranian territorial waters at the time of the attack.