Trump: Iran made a very big mistake
US mulls response amid calls to avoid escalation Iran claims drone invaded its airspace
US President Donald Trump declared yesterday that “Iran made a very big mistake” by shooting down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz and gathered top national security officials at the White House to discuss options.
Asked earlier in the day about a US response to the attack, the president said pointedly “you’ll soon find out”. But he also suggested that shooting down the drone was a foolish error rather than an intentional escalation of the tensions that have led to rising fears of open military conflict.
“I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said at the White House. “I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it.”
The downing of the huge, unmanned aircraft, which Iran portrayed as a deliberate defence of its territory rather than a mistake, was a stark reminder of the risk of military conflict between US and Iranian forces as the Trump administration combines a “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American forces in the region.
Yesterday, Iran called the sanctions “economic terrorism”, insisted the drone had invaded its airspace and said it was taking its case to the United Nations in an effort to prove the US was lying about the aircraft being over international waters. It accused the US of “a very dangerous and provocative act”.
The drone — which has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737 — entered Iranian airspace “despite repeated radio warnings” and was shot down by Iran, acting under the US Charter which allows self-defence action “if an armed attack occurs”, Iran’s UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said in a letter to the UN secretarygeneral.
Trump, who has said he wants to avoid war and negotiate with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, appeared to play down the significance of the shootdown. Yet he also said “this country will not stand for it, that I can tell you”.
On Capitol Hill, leaders urged
caution to avoid escalation, and some lawmakers insisted the White House must consult with Congress before taking any actions.
The Trump administration has been putting increasing economic pressure on Iran for more than a year.
It reinstated punishing sanctions after Trump’s decision to pull the US out of an international agreement intended to limit Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for relief from earlier sanctions.
The other world powers who remain signed on to the nuclear deal have set a meeting to discuss the US withdrawal and Iran’s announced plans to increase its uranium stockpile for June 28, a date far enough in the future to perhaps allow tensions to cool.
Citing Iranian threats, the US recently sent an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf region and deployed additional troops alongside the tens of thousands already there. All this has raised fears that a miscalculation or further rise in
tensions could push the US and Iran into an open conflict 40 years after Tehran’s Islamic Revolution.
“We do not have any intention for war with any country, but we are fully ready for war,” Revolutionary Guard commander General Hossein Salami said in a televised address.
The paramilitary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it shot down the drone when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in southern
Iran’s Hormozgan province. Kouhmobarak is about 1200km southeast of Tehran.
Taking issue with the US version of where the attack occurred, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that his country had retrieved sections of the military drone “in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down”.
Air Force Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, commander of US Central Command air forces in the region, disputed that contention, telling reporters the aircraft was 34km from the nearest Iranian territory and flying at high altitude when struck by a surface-to-air missile.
Congressional leaders came to the White House for an hour-long briefing in the Situation Room yesterday with top national security officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford, acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Army Secretary Mark Esper, whom Trump has said he’ll nominate as Pentagon chief. Democratic leaders in particular urged the president to work with US allies and stressed the need for caution to avoid any unintended escalation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier she didn’t think Trump wanted war with Iran and the American people have “no appetite” for it either.
She said Democrats made it clear to Trump at the meeting that White House would need authorisation from Congress before launching military action against Iran.