The US says that one of its warships brought down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz.
As tensions grow between the two countries, Donald Trump announced that the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, “destroyed” the drone which came within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored several calls to stand down.
The incident comes “almost exactly one month after Iran shot down an American drone,” CNN notes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Revealing the incident, Donald Trump said: “This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters.”
He said Washington “reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities and interests”, and “calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce”.
He also called “on other nations to protect their ships as they go through the Strait and to work with us in the future”.
The New York Times says the development “refuels tensions as both countries dig in”.
A State Department spokesman has told Reuters: “The United States strongly condemns the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with safe passage in and around the Strait of Hormuz.”
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “We have no information about losing a drone.”
After Iran recently shot down a US drone that it said was flying over Iranian waters, Zarif said the two countries had been “a few minutes away” from conflict after Trump called off a planned retaliatory missile strike at the last minute. The Iranian said: “No war with Iran would be a short war.”
CNBC explains that the Boxer is “part of a group of Navy ships that was in the strait, located between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, as part of an increased US military presence in the region”.
-
One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
-
Scientists are worried about amoebasUnder the radar Small and very mighty
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
-
Trump links funding to name on Penn StationSpeed Read Trump “can restart the funding with a snap of his fingers,” a Schumer insider said
-
Trump reclassifies 50,000 federal jobs to ease firingsSpeed Read The rule strips longstanding job protections from federal workers
-
Is the Gaza peace plan destined to fail?Today’s Big Question Since the ceasefire agreement in October, the situation in Gaza is still ‘precarious’, with the path to peace facing ‘many obstacles’
-
Vietnam’s ‘balancing act’ with the US, China and EuropeIn the Spotlight Despite decades of ‘steadily improving relations’, Hanoi is still ‘deeply suspicious’ of the US as it tries to ‘diversify’ its options
-
Trump demands $1B from Harvard, deepening feudSpeed Read Trump has continually gone after the university during his second term
-
‘My donation felt like a rejection of the day’s politics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump’s Kennedy Center closure plan draws ireSpeed Read Trump said he will close the center for two years for ‘renovations’
-
Trump's ‘weaponization czar’ demoted at DOJSpeed Read Ed Martin lost his title as assistant attorney general
