Word: iranian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...plane was heading directly toward his ship in a combat situation, and it had not responded to twelve radio demands that it identify itself. Thus it had to be considered hostile. In a 53-page unclassified version of a 1,000-page report, the Pentagon admitted that the Iranian aircraft was not descending toward the Vincennes or emitting military identifying signals, as the Navy originally claimed...
...horrors perpetrated during the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, none have been more insidious than the routine use of mustard gas by the Iraqis against their Iranian foes. Despite a 63-year-old international protocol that forbids the use of chemical weapons, the Iraqis have relied increasingly over the past four years on mustard gas, and possibly cyanide gas and nerve agents as well, to combat Iranian forces. Chemical weapons, dubbed "that hellish poison" by Winston Churchill, weighed heavily in Iran's abrupt decision last month to abandon the fight against Iraq and pursue a cease-fire...
Speculation arose that Hammadi's confession was part of a maneuver by Iran that could free West German Rudolf Cordes, one of 16 foreign hostages believed to be held in Beirut by groups like the pro-Iranian Hizballah. Most experts doubted, however, that West Germany would agree to a Hammadi-Cordes swap. At the same time, a West German intelligence source contends that Iran ordered Hammadi's confession to gain Bonn's support during upcoming peace negotiations with Iraq. For more intrigue, tune in when the trial resumes next month...
...psychological stress of combat on the Vincennes' sailors led to the misreadings, Fogarty's investigation concluded. The cruiser had been on Persian Gulf duty only since late May, and its crew got its first taste of battle the morning of July 3. The ship had just skirmished with Iranian gunboats when the Airbus was spotted, and all hands were already on alert because of intelligence warnings of a possible Iranian terrorist attack over the July 4 weekend. According to the Washington Post, agitated crew members even fumbled the complex firing sequence several times before launching the missiles...
...investigating team meantime returned to New York from the battlefront with fresh evidence that Iraq is using chemical weapons. According to the experts, Iraqi forces fired poison-gas shells at Iranian troops before retaking the Majnoun Islands in June. The first symptoms in those affected were described as "burning in the eyes and various parts of the body." Last week Iranian officials claimed that Iraqi planes dropped mustard-gas bombs on towns and villages in northwestern Iran, injuring some 1,700 people. Iraq denied the allegations...