Trump says 'Iran made a very big mistake' after US military confirms it shot down American drone

Jun 20, 2019, 10:27 AM ETChris Kaufman/The Appeal-Democrat via AP, FileWatchIran says it's 'ready for war'In a major provocation, Iran shot down an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone while it was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement.Add Iran as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Iran news, video, and analysis from ABC News.Add InterestPresident Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that "Iran made a very big mistake."Iran made a very big mistake!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2019 The incident is sure to trigger serious discussions within the Trump administration about how to respond to a direct attack on a U.S. military asset that goes beyond recent attacks in the Middle East that the U.S. has blamed on Iran.Mid-morning Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that President Trump has "been kept up to date" and was briefed both Thursday morning and Wednesday night. She said the White House would “keep in touch with members on the Hill” but would not confirm any White House meetings on Iran.Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, offered a strongly worded threat to the U.S. after the drone was downed."Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message," he said, translated from Farsi. "The message is that the guardians of the borders of Islamic Iran will decisively respond to the violation of any stranger to this land. The only solution for the enemies is to respect the territorial integrity and national interests of Iran."Koichi Kamoshida/Getty ImagesA full-scale model of The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned plane is displayed during a presentation at PiO Exhibition Center on March 24, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. more + "We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war. Today’s incident is a clear sign of this accurate message," Salami added.Earlier, Iranian state media had quoted Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying it had downed the drone when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district north of the Strait of Hormuz."Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," said CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Capt. Bill Urban in a statement on Thursday morning. "This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace."Urban said the RQ-4A Global Hawk, which "provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions," was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19.Sepahnews via APIn this undated photo released by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami speaks in a meeting in Tehran, Iran. more + The incident is not the first time in recent days that Iran has targeted an American drone off its coast.Last Thursday, Iran attempted to shoot down an MQ-9 Reaper that was surveilling the attack on one of two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The United States has blamed Iran for being responsible for the attacks on the two tankers -- a claim Iran has denied."According to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9, at 6:45 a.m. local time, June 13, over the Gulf of Oman, to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous," CENTCOM spokesperson Lt. Col. Earl Brown said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday.Chris Kaufman/The Appeal-Democrat via AP, FileIn a Monday, June 30, 2008, file photo, Beale Air Force Base Airmen work on an RQ-4 Global Hawk into its hangar at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County, Calif. more + "Subsequent analysis indicates that this was a likely attempt to shoot down or otherwise disrupt the MQ-9 surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous," Brown said.In early May, the Pentagon rushed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and a B-52 bomber task force to the Middle East to deter possible attacks by Iran or Iranian-backed groups on U.S. forces and U.S. interests in the region. </s> Iran says it shot down American drone; U.S. Army denies Iran’s state news agency says the drone – identified as ‘RQ-4 Global Hawk’ – was shot down when it entered the country’s airspace over the province of Hormozgan.

The U.S. military spokesman: ‘No U.S. aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace today.

The U.S. military did not fly over Iranian airspace on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, after a news website run by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said a U.S. “spy” drone was shot down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan

“No U.S. aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace today,” Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, said shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

“It was shot down when it entered Iran’s airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south,” the Guards’ website added.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering near-real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather, maker Northrop Grumman says on its website.

Urban declined further comment. The U.S. military has in recent days confirmed an attempt by Iran to shoot down a U.S. drone last week as well as a successful shootdown of one on June 6 by Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen.

Tension between Iran and the United States has spiked since last year when President Donald Trump exited a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers and reimposed sanctions on the country.

Concerns about a military confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week and four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on May 12, both near the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies.

The United States and its regional ally Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for the incidents. Iran has denied responsibility.

To counter Iran’s threats, the U.S. military has sent forces, including aircraft carriers, B-52 bombers and troops to the Middle East. However, Trump said he does not seek war with Iran.

Iran said last week that it was responsible for the security of the Strait of Hormuz, calling on American forces to exit the Gulf.

In protest at Trump’s “maximum pressure”, in May Tehran said it would start enriching uranium at a higher level unless other European signatories to the deal protected its economy from the U.S. sanctions within 60 days.

State news agency IRNA even identified the drone as an “RQ-4 Global Hawk </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Latest on developments in the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. (all times local):

 

 2:20 p.m.

 

 Iran’s foreign ministry has warned the United States over violating Iranian airspace after the Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S drone earlier in the day.

 

 A ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, is quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying that Iran cannot condone the “illegal trespassing and invading of the country’s skies by any kind of foreign flying object.”

 

 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it shot down the American drone over Iranian airspace, while U.S. officials say it happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 Mousavi expressed Iran’s “strong objection” and added that the “invaders will bear full responsibility.”





 

 12:45 p.m.

 

 Saudi Arabia says Yemen’s Houthi rebels have fired a rocket into the kingdom targeting a desalination plant, but that no one was wounded and the rocket caused no damage.

 

 The state-run Saudi Press Agency on Thursday reported the attack, quoting military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki. The attack took place late Wednesday night.

 

 The Iranian-backed Houthis through their Al-Masirah satellite channel claimed that they targeted a power plant in Jizan in Saudi Arabia.

 

 White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders earlier said President Donald Trump had been “briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

 

 It wasn’t immediately clear why the U.S. would brief Trump over the incident if it caused no damage.

 

 The attack comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.





 10:40 a.m.

 

 The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says the shooting down of a U.S. drone has sent “a clear message” to America.

 

 Gen. Hossein Salami said also says that Iran does “not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war.”

 

 His speech was carried live on Iranian state television on Thursday, shortly after U.S. and Iranian officials acknowledged the shooting down of the drone.

 

 The Guard says it shot down the American drone over Iranian airspace, while U.S. officials told The Associated Press the downing happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.





 10:25 a.m.

 

 A U.S. official says that an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a U.S. drone flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 The official spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be cleared for release to the public.

 

 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it shot down a U.S. drone amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal.

 

 It said the U.S. drone was flying in Iranian airspace, contradicting the U.S. official.

 

 The reported downing of the RQ-4 Global Hawk comes after the U.S. military previously alleged Iran fired a missile at another drone last week that responded to the attack on two oil tankers near the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. blames Iran for the attack on the ships, something Tehran denies. </s> US President Donald Trump reportedly approved a missile strike on Iran but changed his mind while the planes were in the air.

Trump allegedly made the decision following an intense meeting at the White House involving national security top brass. It was made in response to Iran shooting down a US done on Thursday. However, Trump was said to have backed down on the decision following advice from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, according to sources. At this stage, it is not yet known why the president reversed the action.

It comes just a day after Trump launched his reelection campaign in Florida. During a speech at the event, he warned that Iran had made 'a very big mistake' by shooting down the drone. When asked by a reporter if he planned a retaliatory strike against Iran, Trump said: "You'll soon find out". At a subsequent press conference, the 45th President of the United States again addressed the issue, saying that he did not believe Iran's actions were intentional.

The averted strike was in response to the downing of the surveillance RQ-4 Global Hawk which Iran says was flying in its airspace - a claim the US denied. Tensions have been rising between the two states since Trump's administration accused Tehran of attacking tankers in the Gulf last week. The Revolutionary Guard said: "It was shot down when it entered Iran's airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south." Brigadier General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, warned against any further aggression and claimed the drone's downing carried a "clear message" to Iran's arch-enemy - the US.

He added: "We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war." The US military said the drone was shot down 17 miles from Iran. Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military's Central Command, claimed no US aircraft were flying over Iran. He said: "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false. This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace." </s> President Donald Trump on Friday reacted on Twitter to reports that he ordered a military strike on Iran for shooting down an American drone, but then reversed his decision after the plan was underway, saying he called off the attack with just 10 minutes to spare because he was concerned about potential casualties.

Interested in Iran? Add Iran as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Iran news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest

In a series of tweets, he said, "We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not ... proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"

....proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019

Sources told ABC News the reversal Thursday night was against the advice of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton.

The plan and reversal was first reported by The New York Times.

A senior level administration source briefed on the plan says it would have escalated the situation quickly had it been carried out. Officials feared the attack could have caused hundreds of civilian casualties.

Trump elaborated on his decision in an excerpt of an interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd that aired Friday afternoon.

Trump said "nothing was green-lighted until the very end because things change" and that he never gave a final warning.

He said planes were not yet in the air but as the plan got close to needing final approval -- "to a point you would not turn back, you could not turn back" -- he said he was asked: “Sir, we are ready to go, we would like a decision.”

"And I said, “I want to know something before you go. How many people would be killed, in this case Iranians?” he told Todd.

When told approximately 150 could die, Trump said he thought, "I didn't like it. I didn't think it was proportionate."

AP Photo/Evan Vucci

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday, answering a reporter's question, said she had not been informed of the impending strike.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Later, in a statement, she said, "We are in an extremely dangerous and sensitive situation with Iran. We must calibrate a response that de-escalates and advances American interests, and we must be clear as to what those interests are.

"During our meeting with the President at the White House, Congressional Leaders stressed the necessity that we work with our allies and not strengthen the hand of Iran's hardliners. Democratic Leaders emphasized that hostilities must not be initiated without the approval of Congress," Pelosi said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was not informed, either, a source said.

Iran shot down a U.S. drone early Thursday, claiming it had flown into the country's airspace. The U.S. government claims it was operating in international airspace.

AP

On Friday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ aerospace commander, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, had told reporters that while Iran was intercepting the drone it shot down Thursday, there was an American P-8 spy plane flying nearby with 35 crew members on board that also violated Iran’s airspace. He said they could have shot it down, too, but did not.

On Thursday, Trump called the decision to shoot down the drone a "mistake" made by somebody in Iran he labeled "loose and stupid" when speaking to reporters following a discussion with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The comments came following a morning meeting with his top national security advisers over the downing of what the U.S. military said was an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone flying over the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.

Shortly before, Trump had tweeted that "Iran made a very big mistake" after a top Iranian commander warned Iran was "ready for war."

Top politicians from the Senate and House, including Pelosi and Schumer, met with administration officials about the downed drone Thursday afternoon.

"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," Schumer said.

Pelosi called it a "dangerous situation" and cautioned the president that the U.S. "cannot be reckless in what we do."

Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, offered a strongly worded threat to the U.S. after the drone was downed.

"Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message," he said, translated from Farsi. "The message is that the guardians of the borders of Islamic Iran will decisively respond to the violation of any stranger to this land. The only solution for the enemies is to respect the territorial integrity and national interests of Iran."

The United States called for closed consultations at the U.N. Security Council on Monday to discuss "the situation in the Middle East," a UNSC diplomat confirmed to ABC News. A second diplomat said they will specifically discuss Iran.

ABC News' Luis Martinez, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Somaye Malekian, John Parkinson, Mariam Khan and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report. </s> U.S. Navy photo by Erik Hildebrandt(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that the Iranian shootdown of an American drone may have not have been intentional, but a “mistake” by someone “stupid.”

Trump spoke following a meeting with his top national security advisers after Iran, in what appeared to have been a major provocation, shot down what the U.S. military said was an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone flying in international airspace over the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz.

Shortly before, Trump had tweeted that “Iran made a very big mistake” after a top Iranian commander warned Iran was “ready for war.”

When asked early afternoon whether the U.S. would strike back during an Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said: “You’ll soon find out.”

But at the same time, he said, “I find it hard to believe it was intentional if you want to know the truth.”

“It could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it,” he said.

“I would imagine it was a general or somebody who made a mistake in shooting the drone down,” Trump said. “Fortunately, that drone was unarmed. It was not — there was no man in it, it was in international waters but we didn’t have a man or woman in the drone, we had nobody in the drone. Would have made a big, big difference.”

“I have a feeling — and I may be wrong and I may be right but I’m right a lot — that it was a mistake made by somebody that shouldn’t have been doing what they do,” he said. “I think they made a mistake and I’m not just talking about the country made a mistake somebody under the command of the country made a mistake.”

“It was a very foolish move,” he said. Nevertheless, he said, “This country will not stand for it.”

Earlier, the president did not respond when ABC News asked him for a comment as he walked into the West Wing late Thursday morning. A White House official confirmed he was headed into a meeting with Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that the U.S. Navy was working to recover the drone in a debris field the official said was located in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz. At a short, mid-day Pentagon briefing, a U.S. military official speaking from the region reiterated that the drone was shot down in international airspace.

The commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, said the American drone was flying over the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz on a surveillance mission near previous tanker attacks when it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from a location in the vicinity of Goruk, Iran.

Calling the shootdown an “unprovoked attack,” Guastella said it was “an attempt to disrupt our ability to monitor the area following recent threats to international shipping and free flow of commerce.” He said the drone was operating “at high-altitude approximately 34 kilometers from the nearest point of land on the Iranian coast” when it was shot down, falling into international waters.

The incident was sure to trigger serious discussions within the Trump administration about how to respond to a direct attack on a U.S. military asset that goes beyond recent attacks in the Middle East that the U.S. has blamed on Iran.

Mid-morning Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that President Trump has “been kept up to date” and was briefed both Thursday morning and Wednesday night. She said the White House would “keep in touch with members on the Hill.”

Top congressional leaders from both parties and chairs and ranking members of the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees were all receiving a closed-door classified intelligence briefing from Trump administration officials at the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters that at least 20 of the top lawmakers on Capitol Hill were invited to attend the exclusive briefing.

“I think it’s a dangerous situation,” Pelosi said. “We have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests. We also cannot be reckless in what we do. So, it would be interesting to see what they have to say, whether the – I don’t think the President wants to go to war. there’s no appetite for going to war in our country.”

A close ally of the president’s, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., when asked how the U.S. should respond, answered, “With firmness, and resolve. The only way Iran changes its behavior is that if they believe Americans will put options on the table that will create pain for the regime.”

Graham said he had spoken with the president.

“I talked to him last night. He had a meeting last night. He believes that we’re going into a we’re getting into a bad space, that his options are running out, that he’s not going to be intimidated to redo a nuclear deal. That was terrible. He’s not going to relieve sanctions because the Iranians are worse than they been. The Iranian deal was to get them to change their behavior, the nuclear deal. They did everything but change their behavior, Graham told reporters.

“I think what President Trump believes is that this regime is spoiling for a fight but they understand how a conflict would end, it would end badly for them. He does want to try and get a better deal but not this way,” he said.

There was a National Security Council meeting at the White House earlier Thursday morning to discuss Iran, an administration official said, which Shanahan and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford attended. Another White House meeting was to take place Thursday afternoon, which U.S. officials said Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva and Pompeo would attend, officials said.

Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, offered a strongly worded threat to the U.S. after the drone was downed.

“Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message,” he said, translated from Farsi. “The message is that the guardians of the borders of Islamic Iran will decisively respond to the violation of any stranger to this land. The only solution for the enemies is to respect the territorial integrity and national interests of Iran.”

“We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war. Today’s incident is a clear sign of this accurate message,” Salami added.

Earlier, Iranian state media had quoted Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying it had downed the drone when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district north of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false,” said CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Capt. Bill Urban in a statement on Thursday morning. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.”

Urban said the RQ-4A Global Hawk, which “provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions,” was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19.

The incident is not the first time in recent days that Iran has targeted an American drone off its coast.

Last Thursday, Iran attempted to shoot down an MQ-9 Reaper that was surveilling the attack on one of two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The United States has blamed Iran for being responsible for the attacks on the two tankers — a claim Iran has denied.

“According to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9, at 6:45 a.m. local time, June 13, over the Gulf of Oman, to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous,” CENTCOM spokesperson Lt. Col. Earl Brown said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday.

“Subsequent analysis indicates that this was a likely attempt to shoot down or otherwise disrupt the MQ-9 surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous,” Brown said.

In early May, the Pentagon rushed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and a B-52 bomber task force to the Middle East to deter possible attacks by Iran or Iranian-backed groups on U.S. forces and U.S. interests in the region. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran on Thursday in retaliation for the downing of a surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz but called the operation off just before it was due to occur because it would have caused extensive casualties, he said Friday.

In a series of morning tweets, Trump said he called off strikes on three Iranian sites minutes before they were to be launched because he was informed of the likely loss of life among Iranians.

"We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die," Trump tweeted. "150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it."

Such a death toll was "not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone," Trump wrote, adding: "I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"

Iran said Friday the United States had "no justification" for a retaliatory strike and vowed to respond "firmly" to any U.S. military action.

Trump administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security decisions, said the president approved the strikes after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier in the day shot down a Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk operating off Iran's southern coast, a move Trump described as a "very big mistake."

But he later changed his mind, the officials said. The decision was first reported by the New York Times.

The commander of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division said Friday that Iran had sent "warnings" to the drone before shooting it down. In an interview with Iran's state-controlled broadcaster, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said a final warning was sent at 3:55 a.m. local time Thursday.

"When it did not redirect its route and continued flying toward and into our territory, we had to shoot it at 4:05 a.m.," he said. "Our national security is a red line."

He also said that a U.S. P-8 patrol aircraft, with 35 people on board, had accompanied the drone into Iranian airspace. His claim could not immediately be verified.

"We could have downed it, too," Hajizadeh said of the plane, the Fars News Agency reported. "But we did not do it."

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said Friday morning that the Pentagon had Navy assets poised to strike in Iran if directed, including ships accompanying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Those attacks could have included airstrikes with jets, or - more likely - Tomahawk cruise missiles, the official said.

Among the ships that could have been involved were the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and the destroyer USS Bainbridge, the official said. Both vessels can carry Tomahawk missiles.

The official said he could not say whether Iran considered shooting down a Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane with a few dozen U.S. service members aboard before ultimately striking an unmanned RQ-4 over the Gulf of Oman. However, the official said, a P-8 was flying in the region that night.

Iranian state television Friday published images that it said showed pieces of the drone recovered from the debris field. The photographs, which showed large fragments of what appeared to be an aircraft, could not be independently authenticated.

Iranian officials told the Reuters news agency Friday that Tehran received a message from Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S. attack was imminent.

"Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues," Reuters quoted one official as saying. "He gave a short period of time to get our response." The official added that it was up to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to decide whether to respond.

Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations did not immediately reply to request for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration late Thursday barred U.S.-registered aircraft from operating over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, due to an increase in military activities and political tensions that it said might "place commercial flights at risk."

Several U.S. and international carriers said that they had either canceled flights over Iranian airspace or were taking steps to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

The aborted operation to strike Iran capped a day in which news of the drone's downing heaped fuel on already heightened fears that the United States and Iran were on a course toward a military conflict as each side blamed the other for the incident.

Tehran and Washington gave conflicting accounts of what occurred when the drone with an airliner's wingspan crashed into the sea. While Iran said the aircraft had entered its airspace, the U.S. Central Command denied that assertion, characterizing the incident as an "unprovoked attack" over one of the world's most important commercial waterways.

In remarks alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, Trump condemned the shoot-down but also appeared to tamp down speculation that a counterstrike might be in the works, saying the drone may have been shot down without the knowledge of Iranian leaders.

"I'm not just talking about the country made a mistake. I'm talking about somebody under the command of that country made a mistake," Trump said at the White House. "I find it hard to believe it was intentional" on the part of Iran's top officials, the president said.

Trump was noncommittal about a U.S. counterattack. "Let's see what happens," he said. "This is a new fly in the ointment - what happened, shooting down the drone - and this country will not stand for it."

The White House invited a bipartisan group of top congressional leaders to a meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the situation.

Among those invited were Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the chairmen and ranking minority party members of the House and Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees.

"We had a good briefing," McConnell said, adding that he could confirm that an unmanned aerial vehicle "was fired on from Iranian soil and it was in international waters. And beyond that I think the administration is engaged in what I would call measured responses."

Schumer said he cautioned that "these conflicts have a way of escalating."

"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," he said. "One of the best ways to avoid bumbling into war, a war that nobody wants, is to have a robust open debate and for Congress to have a real say. We learned that lesson in the run-up to Iraq" in 2003.

After the White House meeting, Pelosi held a closed-door session with Democratic lawmakers to brief them on the developments. "We know that the high-tension wires are up there, and we must do everything we can not to escalate the situation, but also to make sure that our personnel in the region are safe," she said.

Thursday's strike followed a number of recent incidents, including attacks on oil tankers, that American officials have depicted as part of an Iranian effort to hurt the United States and its allies in the region. The United States has continued its "maximum pressure" campaign against a country the Trump administration has identified as its main adversary in the Middle East.

Tehran has responded with defiance to the campaign, which was launched after Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and has included designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group and taking steps to cut off Iranian oil sales.

On Thursday, the European Union said officials from Germany, Britain, France, Russia, China and Iran would meet next week to discuss strategies to salvage the nuclear pact despite renewed U.S. sanctions and Tehran's threat to exceed limits on its uranium stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister said Friday on Twitter that he met with Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, in Riyadh "to explore the latest efforts to counter hostile Iranian acts."

The Revolutionary Guard's top commander, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, called the downing of the drone "a clear message to America."

"Our borders are Iran's red line, and we will react strongly against any aggression," Salami said in remarks carried by Iranian state television. "Iran is not seeking war with any country, but we are fully prepared to defend Iran."

Nearly a quarter of the world's traded oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects Middle East energy producers to markets around the globe.

Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, head of U.S. air forces in the Middle East, told reporters at the Pentagon that the Global Hawk was flying at high altitude in the vicinity of recent tanker attacks and was not at any time any closer than 21 miles to the nearest point on Iran's coast.

Guastella said the aircraft did not leave international airspace and was brought down by a Republican Guard surface-to-air missile fired from an area close to Goruk, Iran.

"This dangerous and escalatory attack was irresponsible and occurred in the vicinity of established air corridors between Dubai, UAE, and Muscat, Oman, possibly endangering innocent civilians," he said. Guastella did not take questions, and the Pentagon did not make anyone else available to discuss the tensions.

The Global Hawk incident occurred the week after two tankers, one Japanese and one Norwegian, were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for both incidents, at least one of which is said to have been carried out by use of limpet mine similar to devices previously displayed at Iranian military parades. Iran has denied involvement, calling the accusation "a lie."

The tanker incidents were similar to an attack on a tanker off the United Arab Emirates in May. The U.S. military also accused Iran of firing a modified SA-7 surface-to-air missile at an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Gulf of Oman as it surveilled the attack on the Japanese ship.

Also this month, Centcom said Houthi rebels shot down an MQ-9 over Yemen using an SA-6 surface-to-air missile in an attack that "was enabled by Iranian assistance."

The latest incident came just days before acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan was due to step down. Shanahan, who this week withdrew from his confirmation process after news media, including The Washington Post, published reports about past family strife, is handing responsibility for the military to Mark Esper, who now serves as Army secretary.

It is unclear how the turnover at the top of the Pentagon will affect an internal debate about how to respond to what officials say is an attempt to strike American interests. Some defense officials have voiced concerns that officials led by national security adviser John Bolton, who has publicly advocated regime change in Iran in the past, may be creating conditions in which war is inevitable.

Trump has previously authorized targeted strikes in the Middle East, including on government-controlled air bases in Syria. He was elected in 2016 promising to end American involvement in conflicts in the region.

At the same time, the Pentagon remains concerned about the potential for Iranian attacks on U.S. military personnel, especially those stationed in Iraq. During a visit to Baghdad last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to relay a message for Iranian leaders that even one American death would result in a U.S. counterattack.

Trump appeared to tamp down the likelihood of an immediate military response as he highlighted the fact that the Global Hawk was unmanned. "We had nobody in the drone," he said. "It would have made a big difference, let me tell you."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted, "When it comes to the Middle East, there are seldom good choices."

"But in some instances, failing to act can prove to be the most dangerous choice of all," he said.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said U.S. naval assets were trying to recover pieces of the drone.

The strike on the RQ-4 is much more significant than the recent attacks on Reapers. Each Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 131 feet, is worth more than $100 million and is packed with sensors and able to fly at altitudes of more than 55,000 feet to observe broad areas for periods that can stretch longer than a day.

The Global Hawk downed on Thursday was an older "demonstrator" model, according to another U.S. official, that had been transferred from the Air Force to the Navy to carry out a mission known as Broad Area Maritime Surveillance. The Pentagon has since begun testing a newer cousin, the MQ-4C Triton. Neither version carries weapons.

According to a Revolutionary Guard statement, the U.S. drone took off from a base in the "southern Persian Gulf" and was heading toward Iran's Chabahar port "in full secrecy, violating the rules of international aviation."

"While returning to the western Hormuz Strait's region, the drone violated Iran's airspace and engaged in information-gathering and spying," the statement said.

At its narrowest, the Strait of Hormuz is just 21 nautical miles wide, and ships passing through it must enter the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Under the rule of the shah in 1959, Iran extended its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and declared that it would recognize only "innocent passage" through the area, essentially excluding warships engaging in activities deemed hostile. Oman also claimed a 12-mile territorial limit in 1972 and later demanded that foreign warships obtain permission to pass through its waters.

The United States does not recognize any restrictions on transit through the strait.

Ryan and Lamothe reported from Washington. The Washington Post’s William Branigin in Washington contributed to this report. </s> Jonathan Lemire, Lisa Mascaro and Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press 

 



WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he's still considering military action against Iran after it downed an unmanned U.S. military aircraft, saying the use of force is "always on the table until we get this solved."

Days after initially saying he found it "hard to believe" the shoot-down was intentional, Trump accused Iran of "knowingly" targeting the plane. He reiterated that he aborted a planned military strike set for Thursday after learning approximately 150 Iranians would be killed.

"I don't want to kill 150 Iranians. I don't want to kill 150 of anything or anybody unless it's absolutely necessary," he told reporters as he left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat. Meetings about Iran were on the agenda, Trump said.

Trump said "we very much appreciate" a decision by Iran's Revolutionary Guard not to shoot down a U.S. spy plane carrying more than 30 people, though he said the downing of the drone was "probably intentional."

"But regardless, they targeted something without a person in it, without a man or woman, and certainly without anybody from the United States in it. So, we want to be proportionate," Trump said.

The president's comments came as Iran summoned the United Arab Emirates' top envoy to Tehran to protest the neighbouring Arab nation's decision to allow the U.S. to use a base there to launch the drone that Iran says entered its airspace, state media reported Saturday.

Iran issued a "strong protest" to the UAE diplomat, saying Iran does not tolerate the facilitation of foreign forces that violate its territory, the report by the official IRNA news agency said.

The U.S. said its RQ-4A Global Hawk was shot down Thursday over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside Iranian airspace.

The shoot-down by elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces marked the first time the Islamic Republic directly attacked the American military amid mounting tensions over Tehran's unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

The two countries disputed the circumstances leading up to an Iranian surface-to-air missile bringing down the drone, an unmanned aircraft with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737 jetliner and costing over $100 million.

British diplomat Andrew Murrison planned to visit Iran on Sunday and call for the "urgent de-escalation in the region and raise U.K. and international concerns about Iran's regional conduct" during talks with Tehran's government, Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement Saturday.

"At this time of increased regional tensions and at a crucial period for the future of the nuclear deal, this visit is an opportunity for further open, frank and constructive engagement with the government of Iran," the statement said.

The announcement came a day after Trump said he had called off military strikes on Iran minutes before they were to be carried out Thursday because it would have been out of proportion to the shoot-down of an unmanned American surveillance drone.

"I didn't like the idea of them knowingly shooting down an unmanned drone and then we kill 150 people. I didn't like it," Trump said Saturday.

Trump said U.S. sanctions on Iran have turned the country into an "economic mess." He said Iran will never be a wealthy nation again if its leadership remains intent on having nuclear weapons.

"The fact is we're not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "And when they agree to that, they are going to have a wealthy country, they're going to be so happy and I'm going to be their best friend."

The drone incident immediately heightened the crisis already gripping the wider region, which is rooted in Trump withdrawing the U.S. a year ago from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal and imposing crippling new sanctions on Tehran.

Recently, Iran quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium to be on pace to break one of the deal's terms by next week, while threatening to raise enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels on July 7 if Europe doesn't offer it a new deal.

In Iraq, security measures were increased at one of the country's largest air bases, which houses American trainers, a top Iraqi air force commander said Saturday. The U.S. military said operations at the base were going on as usual and there were currently no plans to evacuate personnel.

The stepped-up Iraqi security measures at Balad air base, just north of the capital of Baghdad, come amid the sharply rising tensions in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.

On Friday, Iran summoned Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner to hear Iran's protest over the alleged violation. Switzerland looks after U.S. interests in Iran. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979.

Iran said the U.S. drone was a "very dangerous provocation." </s> Trump confirms he called off attack on Iran, citing potential casualties

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran on Thursday in retaliation for the downing of a surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz but called the operation off just before it was due to occur because it would have caused extensive casualties, he said Friday.

In a series of morning tweets, Trump said he called off strikes on three Iranian sites minutes before they were to be launched because he was informed of the likely loss of life among Iranians.

"We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die," Trump tweeted. "150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it."

Such a death toll was "not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone," Trump wrote, adding: "I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"

Iran said Friday the United States had "no justification" for a retaliatory strike and vowed to respond "firmly" to any U.S. military action.

Trump administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security decisions, said the president approved the strikes after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier in the day shot down a Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk operating off Iran's southern coast, a move Trump described as a "very big mistake."

But he later changed his mind, the officials said. The decision was first reported by the New York Times.

Trump's Friday morning tweets appeared to gloss over the fact that he was the one, as commander in chief, who had ordered the retaliatory strike against Iran in the first place.

The commander of the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division said Friday that Iran had sent "warnings" to the drone before shooting it down. In an interview with Iran's state-controlled broadcaster, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said a final warning was sent at 3:55 a.m. local time Thursday.

"When it did not redirect its route and continued flying toward and into our territory, we had to shoot it at 4:05 a.m.," he said. "Our national security is a red line."

He also said that a U.S. P-8 patrol aircraft, with 35 people on board, had accompanied the drone into Iranian airspace. His claim could not immediately be verified.

"We could have downed it, too," Hajizadeh said of the plane, the Fars News Agency reported. "But we did not do it."

Iranian state television Friday published images that it said showed pieces of the drone recovered from the debris field. The photographs, which showed large fragments of what appeared to be an aircraft, could not be independently authenticated.

Iranian officials told the Reuters news agency Friday that Tehran received a message from Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S. attack was imminent.

"Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues," Reuters quoted one official as saying. "He gave a short period of time to get our response." The official added that it was up to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to decide whether to respond.

Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations did not immediately reply to request for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration late Thursday barred U.S.-registered aircraft from operating over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, due to an increase in military activities and political tensions that it said might "place commercial flights at risk."

Several U.S. and international carriers said that they had either canceled flights over Iranian airspace or were taking steps to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

The aborted operation to strike Iran capped a day in which news of the drone's downing heaped fuel on already heightened fears that the United States and Iran were on a course toward a military conflict as each side blamed the other for the incident.

Tehran and Washington gave conflicting accounts of what occurred when the drone with an airliner's wingspan crashed into the sea. While Iran said the aircraft had entered its airspace, the U.S. Central Command denied that assertion, characterizing the incident as an "unprovoked attack" over one of the world's most important commercial waterways.

In remarks alongside visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, Trump condemned the shoot-down but also appeared to tamp down speculation that a counterstrike might be in the works, saying the drone may have been shot down without the knowledge of Iranian leaders.

"I'm not just talking about the country made a mistake. I'm talking about somebody under the command of that country made a mistake," Trump said at the White House. "I find it hard to believe it was intentional" on the part of Iran's top officials, the president said.

Trump was noncommittal about a U.S. counterattack. "Let's see what happens," he said. "This is a new fly in the ointment - what happened, shooting down the drone - and this country will not stand for it."

The White House invited a bipartisan group of top congressional leaders to a meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the situation.

Among those invited were Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and the chairmen and ranking minority party members of the House and Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees.

"We had a good briefing," McConnell said, adding that he could confirm that an unmanned aerial vehicle "was fired on from Iranian soil and it was in international waters. And beyond that I think the administration is engaged in what I would call measured responses."

Schumer said he cautioned that "these conflicts have a way of escalating."

"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," he said. "One of the best ways to avoid bumbling into war, a war that nobody wants, is to have a robust open debate and for Congress to have a real say. We learned that lesson in the run-up to Iraq" in 2003.

After the White House meeting, Pelosi held a closed-door session with Democratic lawmakers to brief them on the developments. "We know that the high-tension wires are up there, and we must do everything we can not to escalate the situation, but also to make sure that our personnel in the region are safe," she said.

Thursday's strike followed a number of recent incidents, including attacks on oil tankers, that American officials have depicted as part of an Iranian effort to hurt the United States and its allies in the region. The United States has continued its "maximum pressure" campaign against a country the Trump administration has identified as its main adversary in the Middle East.

Tehran has responded with defiance to the campaign, which was launched after Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and has included designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group and taking steps to cut off Iranian oil sales.

On Thursday, the European Union said officials from Germany, Britain, France, Russia, China and Iran would meet next week to discuss strategies to salvage the nuclear pact despite renewed U.S. sanctions and Tehran's threat to exceed limits on its uranium stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister said Friday on Twitter that he met with Brian Hook, the State Department's special representative for Iran, in Riyadh "to explore the latest efforts to counter hostile Iranian acts."

The Revolutionary Guard's top commander, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, called the downing of the drone "a clear message to America."

"Our borders are Iran's red line, and we will react strongly against any aggression," Salami said in remarks carried by Iranian state television. "Iran is not seeking war with any country, but we are fully prepared to defend Iran."

Nearly a quarter of the world's traded oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects Middle East energy producers to markets around the globe.

Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, head of U.S. air forces in the Middle East, told reporters at the Pentagon that the Global Hawk was flying at high altitude in the vicinity of recent tanker attacks and was not at any time any closer than 21 miles to the nearest point on Iran's coast.

Guastella said the aircraft did not leave international airspace and was brought down by a Republican Guard surface-to-air missile fired from an area close to Goruk, Iran.

"This dangerous and escalatory attack was irresponsible and occurred in the vicinity of established air corridors between Dubai, UAE, and Muscat, Oman, possibly endangering innocent civilians," he said. Guastella did not take questions, and the Pentagon did not make anyone else available to discuss the tensions.

The Global Hawk incident occurred the week after two tankers, one Japanese and one Norwegian, were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for both incidents, at least one of which is said to have been carried out by use of limpet mine similar to devices previously displayed at Iranian military parades. Iran has denied involvement, calling the accusation "a lie."

The tanker incidents were similar to an attack on a tanker off the United Arab Emirates in May. The U.S. military also accused Iran of firing a modified SA-7 surface-to-air missile at an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Gulf of Oman as it surveilled the attack on the Japanese ship.

Also this month, Centcom said Houthi rebels shot down an MQ-9 over Yemen using an SA-6 surface-to-air missile in an attack that "was enabled by Iranian assistance."

The latest incident came just days before acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan was due to step down. Shanahan, who this week withdrew from his confirmation process after news media, including The Washington Post, published reports about past family strife, is handing responsibility for the military to Mark Esper, who now serves as Army secretary.

It is unclear how the turnover at the top of the Pentagon will affect an internal debate about how to respond to what officials say is an attempt to strike American interests. Some defense officials have voiced concerns that officials led by national security adviser John Bolton, who has publicly advocated regime change in Iran in the past, may be creating conditions in which war is inevitable.

Trump has previously authorized targeted strikes in the Middle East, including on government-controlled air bases in Syria. He was elected in 2016 promising to end American involvement in conflicts in the region.

At the same time, the Pentagon remains concerned about the potential for Iranian attacks on U.S. military personnel, especially those stationed in Iraq. During a visit to Baghdad last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to relay a message for Iranian leaders that even one American death would result in a U.S. counterattack.

Trump appeared to tamp down the likelihood of an immediate military response as he highlighted the fact that the Global Hawk was unmanned. "We had nobody in the drone," he said. "It would have made a big difference, let me tell you."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted, "When it comes to the Middle East, there are seldom good choices."

"But in some instances, failing to act can prove to be the most dangerous choice of all," he said.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said U.S. naval assets were trying to recover pieces of the drone.

The strike on the RQ-4 is much more significant than the recent attacks on Reapers. Each Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 131 feet, is worth more than $100 million and is packed with sensors and able to fly at altitudes of more than 55,000 feet to observe broad areas for periods that can stretch longer than a day.

The Global Hawk downed on Thursday was an older "demonstrator" model, according to another U.S. official, that had been transferred from the Air Force to the Navy to carry out a mission known as Broad Area Maritime Surveillance. The Pentagon has since begun testing a newer cousin, the MQ-4C Triton. Neither version carries weapons.

According to a Republican Guard statement, the U.S. drone took off from a base in the "southern Persian Gulf" and was heading toward Iran's Chabahar port "in full secrecy, violating the rules of international aviation."

"While returning to the western Hormuz Strait's region, the drone violated Iran's airspace and engaged in information-gathering and spying," the statement said.

At its narrowest, the Strait of Hormuz is just 21 nautical miles wide, and ships passing through it must enter the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. Under the rule of the shah in 1959, Iran extended its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles and declared that it would recognize only "innocent passage" through the area, essentially excluding warships engaging in activities deemed hostile. Oman also claimed a 12-mile territorial limit in 1972 and later demanded that foreign warships obtain permission to pass through its waters.

The United States does not recognize any restrictions on transit through the strait.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shoots down an American RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone after it allegedly violates Iranian airspace.