Voice of America
19 Jul 2019, 08:35 GMT+10
Updated at 6:15 p.m. July 18.
President Donald Trump said a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone Thursday that was threatening the ship and its crew in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump told reporters at a White House event that the drone came within 900 meters of the USS Boxer and ignored "multiple calls to stand down."
"The drone was immediately destroyed," he said. "This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in New York that he had "no information on losing a drone today."
But Trump called on all nations to condemn what he called "Iran's attempt to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce."
The Pentagon said in a statement the incident happened about 10 a.m. local time. "The amphibious ship USS Boxer was in international waters conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz," it said. "A fixed-wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range. The ship took defensive action against the UAS to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew."
Thursday's incident is bound to increase tensions between the United States and Iran, which are already simmering over U.S. sanctions that have wrecked the Iranian economy, and the U.S. withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran had reached with global powers.
Iran has also started backing away from parts of the deal and has threatened to further increase uranium enrichment unless the European Union helps the Iranian economy.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone last month that it said was flying over its territory. The U.S. said the drone was over international waters. Trump called off a retaliatory airstrike at the last minute, saying he wanted to avoid Iranian casualties.
The U.S. also suspects Iran was behind mine attacks on several foreign oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last month.
Iran says U.S. actions in the Middle East, including missile sales to its archrivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, threaten to blow up the region.
Get a daily dose of New York Telegraph news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to New York Telegraph.
More InformationMEXICO CITY - Human remains discovered last month at a farm outside the city of Guadalajara have been confirmed as ...
PanARMENIAN.Net - Several U.S. military vehicles entered Syria's Al-Hasakah Governorate on Sunday, December 15 after crossing into the Levantine country ...
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA - Rhino poaching in Namibia dropped to 41 individuals killed in all of 2019 so far, compared with ...
Donald Trump is no Richard Nixon.Nixon was a bully, a cynic and a crook who did all kinds of damage ...
LOS ANGELES, California - Michael Henschel offered to help financially struggling individuals save their homes.Instead, he stole their American dream.Henschel, ...
Last Easter an antisemitism crisis erupted in the UK setting the Jewish Community against the Labour Party, or more precisely ...
No, residents of the capital don't hate their own city. They are the first to defend its honor and prove ...
China on Monday urged the United States to correct its "mistake" of expelling Chinese officials.Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said ...
WASHINGTON - The United States secretly expelled two Chinese embassy officials in September after they drove onto a sensitive military ...
South African businessman Eran Eyal has been convicted of defrauding investors of millions of dollars through three different investment schemes ...
South Africa is becoming infamous on the world stage for its violent, even deadly, xenophobia. Attacks periodically erupt. Often the ...
New York [US], Dec 15 (ANI): Asserting that religious freedom in Pakistan continues to "deteriorate" under the leadership of Prime ...