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”.
-
Believe it when AI see it: have we reached a deepfake turning point in politics?Today’s Big Question AI ‘slopaganda’ is becoming a ‘feature’ of modern elections
-
Daylight Saving Time: a Spanish controversyUnder the Radar Spain’s prime minister has called on the EU to remove biannual clock changes in Europe
-
Quiz of The Week: 25 – 31 OctoberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Judge rules US attorney ‘unlawfully serving’Speed Read Bill Essayli had been serving in the role without Senate confirmation
-
Trump ends Asia trip with Xi meeting, nuke threatSpeed Read Trump had spent the last six days in Asia
-
What does history say about Trump’s moves in Latin America?Today's Big Question ‘Bitter memories’ surface as the US targets Venezuela
-
Is the ceasefire in Gaza really working?Today's Big Question Neither Israel and Hamas has an interest in a full return to hostilities but ‘brutally simple arithmetic’ in region may scupper peace plan long-term
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Push for Ukraine ceasefire collapsesFeature Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were called off after the Russian president refused to compromise on his demands
-
Trump eyes regime change in VenezuelaFeature Officials believe Trump’s ‘war on narco-terrorism’ is actually a push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
