Iran ‘threatens another Lockerbie bombing’ in sinister veiled threat and vows to send troops ‘home in coffins’
IRAN’s president has today been accused of threatening another Lockerbie attack as Tehran-backed Iraqi militias vowed to “send American soldiers back in coffins”.
The killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike on Friday has sparked a tense wait for Iran’s response amid fears of a devastating war.
Donald Trump this week threatened to strike 52 targets inside the country – one for each of the US hostages taken during the infamous 1979 embassy crisis – if Iran dares to hit back.
And the country’s leader Hassan Rouhani today responded to the US president’s tweet with what some have called a thinly veiled threat to bomb a passenger plane.
Rouhani tweeted: “Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290. #IR655
“Never threaten the Iranian nation.”
The number 290 refers to the 290 people killed when the US Navy accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger jet in 1988.
Some Middle East experts have taken this as a reference to the Lockerbie terrorist attack, which saw a bomb destroy Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland just months later.
Libya was blamed for the disaster, but Western spooks have long suspected Iran also played a role.
Rouhani seems to be taking responsibility for Lockerbie
Kyle Orton, Middle East researcher
Middle East researcher Kyle Orton tweeted: “The accidental shoot-down of Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988 convinced Khomeini to accept the ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War.
“It has long been suspected that the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie five months later was Iran's revenge.
“Rouhani seems to be taking responsibility.”
And Fatima Alasrar, a Middle East analyst from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, wrote: “Rouhani is basically reminding @realDonaldTrump of the #Iranian Air Flight 655 carrying 290 passengers which was downed by a US navy warship the Vincennes in 1988.
“Though it was deemed a human error, Tehran worked covertly to exact its revenge. How? #Lockerbie.”
Lockerbie: A terror atrocity
Pan Am Flight 103 was flying from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York on 21 December 1988.
While over the Scottish town of Lockerbie a bomb was detonated aboard the plane called Clipper Maid of the Seas.
All 259 on board, including 35 Syracuse University students returning home for the holidays, were killed.
Eleven of the town’s residents on the ground were also killed by falling debris, bringing the death toll to 270.
Adding to the horror, bodies of the passengers were left strewn around the town and its surrounding countryside.
Following a three-year investigation by local police and the FBI two Libyans were issued with arrest warrants for murder.
In 1999 Colonel Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, handed over the men for trial and eventually Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for life in 2001 after being convicted of 270 counts of murder.
But Western spies have long suspected Iran had a hand in the atrocity.
And a Jordanian terrorist’s daughter claimed in 2018 that he oversaw the planning of the attack – after striking a “deal with Iran”.
Rouhani’s cryptic tweet came as Iraqi militias allied to Iran issued a more direct threat against the West.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the chief of the Popular Mobilisation Forces , was also killed in the US strike on Soleimani.
And Jawad Al Telbawi, a commander and spokesman for a faction within the group, told the Independent they had “no red lines hindering their revenge”.
He said: “Our message to the American people is you have to pressure Trump’s government to withdraw their troops from Iraq before we send your soldiers back in coffins.
“All retaliation options are on the table.
“After the crime committed by Trump’s administration, our revenge will be the size of our doctrine and no red lines shall hinder our revenge.”
Iraq's parliament this week passed a resolution to urge its government to expel US troops from the country.
The vote is non-binding, but it sparked more threats from Trump to hit the country with sanctions if it followed through.
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Thousands of Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran for Qasem Soleimani’s funeral on Monday.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wept over the general's casket during his prayers as mourners waved flags and demanded revenge.
Trump ordered the airstrike after claiming Soleimani was responsible for killing Americans in Iraq and was plotting further attacks.
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