The President of United States (U.S.) – Donald Trump has downplayed the rising tensions with Iran, after a U.S. drone was shot down by Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), over the Strait of Hormuz, yesterday, i.e., Thursday, June 20, 2019.
Speaking on the issue, Trump said, “It is hard to believe it was intentional. I think probably Iran made a mistake. I would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down. It could have been somebody who was loose and stupid.”
Trump calls of the military strike
Prior to this, Donald Trump called off the military strikes against Iran, after approving it in the first place. When Trump’s instructions of cancelling the strike came, the U.S. ships were already in position and planes were in the air. The strike was supposed to happen at 19:00 hrs. but it was called off after a long debate between Trump’s National Security Officials and Congressional Leaders.
What actually happened?
On Thursday, June 20, 2019, IRGC confirmed that it had shot down a U.S. spy drone, after the unmanned aircraft violated Iranian airspace near Kuhmobarak in the Southern Province of Hormozgan.
The Commander-In-Chief of IRGC – Maj-Gen Hossein Salami said the drone’s downing was a “clear message” to the U.S. that Iran’s borders were “our red line.”
Later, the U.S. military’s Central Command admitted that a U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS-D) aircraft was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system. However, U.S. also said that the BAMS-D aircraft was over the international waters and not in the Iranian territory.
On learning about the shooting down of U.S. drone, Trump tweeted, “Iran made a very big mistake!”
In order to substantiate their claim, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran – Mohammad Javad Zarif, shared the exact coordinates of the shot down on twitter. This was followed by Pentagon releasing an image which showed the flight path of the downed drone.
The tweet of Mohammad Javad Zarif read, “The US wages #EconomicTerrorism on Iran, has conducted covert action against us & now encroaches on our territory. We don’t seek war, but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters. We’ll take this new aggression to #UN & show that the US is lying about international waters.”
Iran writes to U.N. Secretary General
Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) – Majid Takht Ravanchi has written a letter to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in which he termed the U.S.’s act as a violation of international law.
He wrote, “While the Islamic Republic of Iran does not seek war, it reserves its inherent right to take all appropriate necessary measures against any hostile act violating its territory, and is determined to vigorously defend its land, sea and air.”
Trump assures everything is under control
Speaking to a journalist on FOX News, Trump has assured that everything is under control. He said, “Don’t worry about a thing. Everything’s under control.”
Reactions across the world
The President of Russia – Vladimir Putin said that a between the U.S. and Iran would be a “catastrophe with unpredictable consequences.”
The Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs – Adel al-Jubeir said, “Nobody wants to start a war. But we can’t let Iran go on a rampage like this. The evidence of Iranian involvement is very compelling. They said they would do it, and now they are doing it.”
