President Donald Trump said a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone Thursday that was threatening the ship and its crew in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told reporters at a White House event that the drone came within 900 meters of the USS Boxer and ignored “multiple calls to stand down.”
“The drone was immediately destroyed,” he said. “This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests.”
There was no immediate response from Iran, but Trump called on all nations to condemn what he called “Iran’s attempt to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.”
The Pentagon said in a statement the incident happened about 10 a.m. local time. “The amphibious ship USS Boxer was in international waters conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz,” it said. “A fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range. The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew.”
Thursday’s incident is bound to increase tensions between the United States and Iran, which are already simmering over U.S. sanctions that have wrecked the Iranian economy, and the U.S. withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran had reached with global powers.
Iran has also started backing away from parts of the deal and has threatened to further increase uranium enrichment unless the European Union helps the Iranian economy.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone last month that it said was flying over its territory. The U.S. said the drone was over international waters. Trump called off a retaliatory airstrike at the last minute, saying he wanted to avoid Iranian casualties.
The U.S. also suspects Iran was behind mine attacks on several foreign oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last month.
Iran says U.S. actions in the Middle East, including missile sales to its archrivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, threaten to blow up the region.
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