Currents News Staff
On June 21, President Trump said he called off what was supposed to be a retaliatory strike for Iran’s downing of a U.S. unmanned drone, with just 10 minutes to go. This comes as relations between the U.S. and Tehran have become increasingly strained in recent weeks.
That day members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard released video of debris, claiming it is from the U.S. drone that was shot down on June 20.
“I thought about it for a second and I said, ‘you know what, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with a 150 dead people. I didn’t think it was proportionate,” said President Trump, explaining why he called off the strike already in motion.
“Unfortunately, we’re heading toward a confrontation which is very serious for everybody in the region,” said Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s ambassador to the U.K.
Earlier this week, Iran announced it would ramp up enrichment of low-grade uranium and stockpile more of the material than is allowed under the Nuclear Deal.
Last week, the U.S. said it had video evidence that Iran attacked two tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
“It is the assessment of the United States government that the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Iran denied responsibility for the tanker incidents, but called the drone incident a warning message to the United States.
“Even if there’s no strikes in the near future, you could see the Iranians trying to provoke Trump again in the days ahead,” said Global Affairs Analyst David Rohde.
Experts say to expect more of those “warnings” to come.