Iranian Jet Used Military Radio Channel

WASHINGTON--The Iranian airliner shot down by a U.S. Navy missile was transmitting information on two radio channels, including one "identified with F-14s" flown by the Iranian air force, the Pentagon said yesterday.

The fact the plane's transponder was using a military channel helped lead to the conclusion aboard the cruiser Vincennes that the ship was about to be attacked, said Pentagon spokesman Dan Howard.

That knowledge, Howard said, was a "substantial factor" in Capt. Will C. Rogers's decision to launch two missiles toward the jet.

"The signals that the Vincennes were receiving were signals previously identified with F-14s," Howard said.

He said he was releasing the information about the transmission on a military channel to support the statements of Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the Vincennes fired its missiles because it thought it was attacking a military target.

As the Iranian jetliner flew toward the Vincennes, the plane's transponder was sending out signals through two channels, Howard said. He identified them as "mode 3" and "mode 2."

According to Howard, "mode 3" is a commonly used commercial channel which is also sometimes used by military planes. Howard said he did not specifically know what information the jetliner was transmitting on "mode 3."

But "mode 2," according to Howard, "is peculiar to military aircraft." He said "no commercial airlines use mode 2."

The "mode 2" transmitting device "is a specific piece of equipment that has to be put on" a plane, Howard said.

The signals received by the Vincennes through "mode 2" had been identified with Iranian F-14s in the past year, Howard said.

Meanwhile, in Cyprus, President Ali Khamenei of Iran said yesterday that his country has the right to avenge the victims of the Iran Air jetliner shot down by the U.S. Navy, Tehran Radio reported. Khameni did not say if, how or when Tehran would seek revenge.

Tehran Radio quoted Khamenei as saying, "Iran considers it to be its definite right to avenge the blood of innocent children, men and women."

Also today, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was quoted as saying in Beirut that Western hostages in Lebanon should not suffer because of the missile attack on the Iran Air jet. Fadlallah is spirtual guide for Hezbollah, the Shiite Moslem group believed to be an umbrella for the captors of most of the 18 foreign hostages in Lebanon.

However, an anonymous caller purporting to speak for Islamic Jihad, which holds Americans Terry Anderson and Thomas Sutherland, threatened to kill one of them in revenge. It was not possible to authenticate the call. Islamic Jihad has said it would authenticate its statements with photographs of the hostages.

In Tehran, mass funeral services were scheduled yesterday and today for some of those killed in the attack.

Iran's revolutionary patriarch, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, 87, vowed Monday to dedicate his "worthless life" to fighting the United States. His designated heir, Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, called for total war.

Foreign Minister Ali-Akhbar Velayati said Iran's revenge would extend to countries that have helped the United States in the Persian Gulf. He did not elaborate.

On Tehran radio Monday, Khomeini said: "We must all be prepared for a real war and go to the war fronts and fight against America and its lackeys. I donate my worthless life for the sake of our victory."

Khomeini is rumored to be in poor health or near death, but the radio did not explain what he meant by his last comment.