derek; //Dont forget the US shot down an Iranian passenger plane killing 290 people in 1988 (by mistake)//
Technology has moved on somewhat in 30 years, an accidental targeting of this airliner should not have been possible as it was transmitting active identification and position data and had just taken off from Tehran airport under radar control and full contact with Tehran Air Traffic Control, according to a pre-filed flight plan.
Tehran airport is also far from Iran’s borders. It is an unlikely place for the first contact to be made against a US missile or combat aircraft strike package.
The absence of warnings from radar and SAM units watching Iran’s borders should have indicated there were no US attacks into Iranian airspace. Flight PS752 should not have been identified as hostile.
It may never be known if the operators manually overruled automatic safety procedures that may have made such an accident possible.