President Donald Trump day’s U.S. has downed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz
The President of United States (U.S.) – Donald Trump has said that USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship of U.S. Navy has shot down an Iranian drone today, i.e., Friday, July 19, 2019, in the Strait of Hormuz.
He claimed that the Iranian drone was threatening the safety of the ship. The Iranian drone, ignoring multiple warnings, came close to 10 yards of the ship before it was downed using electronic jamming. Electronic jamming is a form of electronic warfare where jammers radiate interfering signals towards an enemy’s radar, blocking the receiver with highly concentrated energy signals.
I want to apprise everyone of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz today, involving #USSBoxer, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship. The BOXER took defensive action against an Iranian drone…. pic.twitter.com/Zql6nAUGxF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2019
The counter-drone jamming equipment was operated by 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is one of the seven Marine Expeditionary Units in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel.
The U.S.’s move can be seen as an act of revenge of the shooting down of U.S. drone on June 20, 2019 by Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), over the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking on the occasion, Donald Trump said, “I want to apprise everyone of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz today involving USS Boxer, a navy amphibious assault ship. The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone which had closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards (914m), ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew. The drone was immediately destroyed.”
He further added, “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, facilities and interests.”
However, Iran has denied all the claims of U.S. and have termed them baseless. Speaking to media, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran – Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “We have no information about losing a drone today.”
Taking a dig at U.S., the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran – Seyed Abbas Agarchi said that U.S. may have downed their own drone by mistake.
Post this, Agarchi tweeted, “We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAV by mistake!”
We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 19, 2019
Besides, the Spokesperson for Iranian Military – Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi stated that all the drones belonging to Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz have returned safely to their bases after conducting their scheduled surveillance and control operations.
The tensions between U.S. and Iran have been continuously rising after U.S. abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran nuclear deal. The deal was reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran, the P5+1 (the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, U.K., U.S. —plus Germany) and European Union (E.U.).
As per the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about 2/3rd the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. The deal was later abandoned by Trump on May 18, 2018. Post this, in July 2019, Iran breached the deal by producing low-enriched uranium beyond the permissible limits of 300 kgs.
