WORLD : Iran Asks World Court Order on Jet

Iran has asked the World Court to order the United States to pay compensation for the downing of an Iranian jetliner by a U.S. warship in July, 1988, the court’s registry said today.

In its application, Iran charged that Washington violated international conventions on the safety of civil aviation when the cruiser Vincennes shot down an Iranair Airbus A300 over the Gulf on July 3 last year, killing all 290 passengers.

Iran asked that the U.N.-sponsored court rule that the United States “is responsible to pay compensation to the Islamic republic in the amount to te be determined by the court, as measured by the injuries suffered by the Islamic republic and the bereaved families.”