the American naval presence in the Gulf did, in fact, lead to a major confrontation with Iran, but of an unexpected and tragic kind. In early July 1988, the United States destroyer Vincennes, engaged in an exchange with Iranian warships, mistook an Iranian Airbus, carrying 290 passengers, for a hostile aircraft and shot it down. It was a horrid mistake. To some in the Iranian leadership, however, it was not a mistake, but a sign that the United States was taking off its gloves and preparing to bring its great power to bear in direct military confrontation with Iran in order to destroy the
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