Iran Press/America: While this month marks the thirty-first anniversary of the shot down of the Iran's Air flight 655 by the US Navy ship, the USS Vincennes, new documents have revealed that the FBI subjected Iranians living in the US and abroad to surveillance just one day after shooting down the Iranian commercial passenger plane.
According to formerly secret documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, in the days immediately following the downing of an Iran Air flight 655, the FBI conducted an effort it labeled 'Winter Campaign' which included surveillance of Iranians and Iranian groups in the United States, and extended to Muslims abroad, lobelog reported.
The FBI documents dated beginning July 4, 1988—just one day after the flight was shot down—describe 'Winter Campaign' as an effort to collect information to prevent any retaliation from Iran for the downing of flight 655.
In a July 5, 1988 communication sent to all FBI field offices and legal attaches abroad, the FBI director’s office instructs FBI offices in major US cities to begin “physical surveillance, spot checks, etc.” of Iranian groups and individuals. “These measures will remain in effect until notified by FBIHQ,” the communication reads.
Protests in the city of San Diego were also deemed by the FBI to be a particular concern, given that the USS Vincennes—the US Navy vessel that shot down the airliner—was based out of San Diego.
This same July 28 communication from the FBI’s San Diego field office also indicates that the FBI was keeping tabs on the International Muslim Student Association/Persian Speaking Group (MSA/PSG).
The FBI documents indicate that the FBI’s 'Winter Campaign' also extended to Muslims abroad.
The San Diego branch of the anti-Iran terrorist group, Mujahedin-E-Khalq (MEK), which was formerly listed by the US State Department as a terror organization, is quoted in the document as applauding the US Navy’s downing of the Iranian airliner.
The San Diego branch of the MEK also believed conspiracy theories that the downing of the airliner was an Iranian propaganda operation.
The documents also mention other Iranian dissident groups based in the United States. An FBI asset in the pro-monarchy (pro-Shah) element of the Iranian community in the United States is quoted as saying the monarchist community didn’t blame the United States for downing the airliner.
The FBI documents revealed here are of historic importance. However, they are particularly interesting given the renewed tension between the United States and Iran since President Trump took office in 2017.
The Trump administration’s most obvious act of institutional discrimination against Iranians is the travel ban, which targets Iranians more than any other group.
Trump’s anti-Iran rhetoric and policies have also fuelled other forms of discrimination against Iranian-Americans.
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the US Navy ship, the USS Vincennes, shot down Iran Air flight 655 on July 3, 1988. In the incident, 290 Iranians including 66 children were killed. 101/207
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