The following is the full text of the message issued on July 5, 1988 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the president of Islamic Republic of Iran at that time, on the occasion of the savage attack on the Iranian passenger plane by the American navy.
This major and catastrophic attack on the passenger plane and the massacre of hundreds of innocent men, women and children shows America's insane rage and grudge against our Revolution and the Islamic Republic.
It shows that in confronting Islam, the Great Satan has gone as far as wallowing in the morass of the most savage crimes. It shows that vicious arrogance has not achieved any results from its political, propaganda and military plots against Islamic Iran and that there is no option left for the enemy but violent and scandalous terrorism. It also shows the depth of the disaster that humanity faces today. How can a government that makes extravagant claims about civilization, and a government that speaks in a hypocritical way about human rights and opposition to terrorism use the products of science for committing such a shocking crime? How can this government kill hundreds of passengers - on a plane which was flying within a permitted zone - in such a merciless and cruel way and make hundreds of families mourn the loss of their dear ones?
In the name of the people of Iran, I hereby introduce the government of America and Reagan - the American president - as a criminal and assassin.