Channels

President Trump reacts to drone shot down by Iran

Trump suggests Iran's shootdown of drone was accidental

President also says 'you'll find out' what American response to incident will be; Netanyahu calls for all peace-loving countries to stand by U.S. in its effort to stop Iran's aggression

President Donald Trump declared Thursday that "Iran made a very big mistake" in shooting down a U.S. drone but suggested it was an accident rather than a strategic error.

 

 

Asked about a U.S. response, he said repeatedly, "You'll find out."

 

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
 

 

Earlier, a senior U.S. military officer said Iran shot down the huge, unmanned American aircraft over international waters in an attempt to disrupt U.S. efforts to monitor the Persian Gulf area where Trump has blamed Iran for attacking shipping vessels.

 

 

  

But Trump said he could not imagine the missile attack on the drone was intentional and he had a feeling "a general or somebody" mistakenly ordered the attack.

 

The American drone being shot down by Iran (Photo from Twitter)
The American drone being shot down by Iran (Photo from Twitter)

Some members of Congress expressed alarm at the possibility of open conflict in the Middle East, especially after Trump's morning tweet that said only, "Iran made a very big mistake."

 

But when asked about it later, he merely described the incident as a "new wrinkle" in escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran - a "fly in the ointment."

 

Still he said the U.S. "will not stand for it."

 

Top congressional leaders were called to the White House for a briefing later on Thursday on Iran following the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, a source with knowledge of the meeting said.

Iran shot down an intelligence-gathering MQ-4C Triton drone (Photo: Shutterstock)
Iran shot down an intelligence-gathering MQ-4C Triton drone (Photo: Shutterstock)

  

The meeting, with the top four leaders of the U.S. Congress as well as heads of the U.S. Congress Armed Services and Intelligence committees, was to be held in the White House Situation Room

 

Shortly before Trump spoke at to reporters  at a photo opportunity with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, commander of U.S. Central Command air forces in the region, took a different tack from Trump's idea of an accidental shootdown.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement Thursday called for all peace-loving countries to stand by the United States in its effort to stop Iran's aggression.

 

 

 

"This attack is an attempt to disrupt our ability to monitor the area following recent threats to international shipping and free flow of commerce," he said.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.20.19, 20:19
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment