A five-man U.N. team arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran today to investigate the downing an Iranian jetliner by a U.S. warship. American experts wrapped up their probe in the Persian Gulf. The International Civil Aviation Organization team planned to start its probe at Tehran international airport, where part of Iran's air traffic control network is based, said Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency. The group from the Montreal-based U.N. agency planned to travel to Bandar Abbas airport in southern Iran, from which the Iran Air Airbus took off on a brief scheduled flight to Dubai on July 5. Iran says all 290 aboard were killed after the plane was hit by missiles from the cruiser USS Vincennes. Pentagon officials said officers of the Vincennes mistook the Airbus A300 for an Iranian F-14 jet fighter on an attack course. The ICAO experts also will go to the area where the plane crashed into the sea near the Iranian island of Hengham in the Strait of Hormuz, the Iranian agency said in a dispatch monitored in Cyprus. The experts will stay in Iran for a week, the news agency said. The team is in Iran at the request of the Iranian government to help resolve discrepancies in accounts given by the two sides. The U.S. team left the gulf Thursday after spending 3{ weeks in the region, Navy officials said. The team led by Rear Adm. William M. Fogarty arrived July 5, two days after the disaster. Fogarty's team worked in secret and made no statements before leaving. U.S. Navy officials said a report will not be released before mid-August. Investigators compiled data from computer tapes on the Vincennes and two other U.S. warships that were in the area, the frigate USS Elmer Montgomery and missile frigate John H. Sides. They also took sworn testimony from the commander of the Vincennes, Capt. Will C. Rogers III, and other officers of the three warships. Iran asked the 33-nation governing council of the International Civil Aviation Organization to meet in special session to condemn the attack, but members refused to censure the United States. U.S. delegate Edmund Stohr said the United States will offer the U.N. investigating team whatever help it can. He said the team had not asked to board the Vincennes, and he didn't know if such a visit would be possible considering the military situation in the gulf. ICAO is a technical body composed of 159 nations. It sets standards for civil aviation and airline safety.
A team of International Civil Air Organization experts arrived in Teheran today, and is expected to remain in Iran for a week. The ICAO is a specialized branch of the United Nations and is based in Montreal. They are in Iran at the request of the Iranian government. In addition to their technical expertise, they will be able to provide advice on how best to deal with any problems that may arise during this visit. The United States delegate to the United Nations said that his country would help the investigation in any way it could, but did not know if the team would be allowed to go aboard the Vincennes.