Why didn't Iran declare war on the United States for shooting down flight-655?

score:5

Accepted answer

The Iranian government is not actually crazy. Strange, yes. Suicidal, no.

If they had declared war on the USA they would expect to be defeated, their regime overthrown, and the country to be ruled by the US. They really didn't want that, so they did not declare war.

In a WWII context, an analogous position might be the likes of Columbia or Peru deciding to join the Axis in spring 1940, and declaring war on the US at that point. That's obviously silly, isn't it?

The US eventually paid compensation to the victims' families:

US$61.8 million of the claim was in compensation for the 248 Iranians killed in the shoot-down: $300,000 per wage-earning victim and $150,000 per non-wage-earner.

The U.S. government issued notes of regret for the loss of human lives, but never formally apologized or acknowledged wrongdoing.

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