A recent incident on Thursday where Iran shot down an unarmed as well as unmanned U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton drone has increased the tension between Iran and the US. The incident took place when it was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
As per to the US media reports on Thursday night, President Trump had approved the military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing an American surveillance drone, but then, later on, he pulled it back from launching them after a day of rising tensions between the two nations.
As late as 7 p.m., the military, as well as diplomatic officials, were anticipating a strike, after intense consultations and discussion at the White House in the middle of the president’s top national security officials as well as congressional leaders, as per to the many senior administration officials involved in or informed on the discussions.
The tensions between these two nations have been increased since Mr. Trump drew America from the 2015 international nuclear deal last year and then later also re-imposed the sanctions on Iran.
As per to the officials, they said that the president, in the beginning, had approved attacks on a few of Iranian targets, like radar as well as missile batteries.
In the early stages, the operation was underway when it was called off. A senior administration official stated that planes were in the air along with ships which were also in position, but there have been no missiles that had been fired when word further came to stand down.
Later on, Thursday, speaking to US officials, said that at the time when the operation was brought down, the drone was in the international territory. Trump also separately told reporters “Iran made a big mistake” and his “country will not stand for it”, before later signifying the move may have been not deliberate.
Iran’s foreign affairs minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, also stated in a post on Twitter that he gave what he said were exact coordinates for where the American drone was under attack.
“At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace,” he said in a tweet that also comprises of coordinates that he said were close to Kouh-e Mobarak. “We’ve retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down.”
On Thursday Iran’s ambassador, Majid Takht Ravanchi, to the United Nations, sent a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemning the occurrence as a “blatant violation of international law”.
Mr. Trump on Thursday claimed that the United States’ unmanned surveillance aircraft was taken down by an Iranian missile flying when it was flying over international waters.
On Thursday afternoon, the president told reporters at the White House “This drone was in international waters, clearly,” as he started a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada. “We have it all documented. It’s documented scientifically, not just words.”
On asking what he will do next, Mr. Trump replied, “Let’s see what happens.”
In the meantime, Nancy Pelosi who is the US House Speaker told the reporters that she didn’t think Trump would involve the US in war, stating there was “no appetite” for it among Americans.
“It’s a dangerous situation. The high-tension wires are up in the region. We have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests. We also cannot be reckless in what we do,” Pelosi said.
