por admin » Vie Jun 21, 2019 9:54 am
Trump Says He’s ‘In No Hurry’ to Confront Iran
President calls off a retaliatory strike just 10 minutes before its start after learning 150 people would be killed
By Michael R. Gordon, Sune Engel Rasmussen and Siobhan Hughes
Updated June 21, 2019 10:08 am ET
WASHINGTON—President Trump on Friday said he had called off a retaliatory military strike on Iran just 10 minutes before its planned start after learning 150 people would be killed, saying such an action would have been disproportionate to Iran’s downing of an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone.
The U.S. appeared to be edging closer to military confrontation throughout the day on Thursday as President Trump charged that Tehran had made “a very big mistake” in shooting down the unmanned drone.
Iran said Friday it had warned the U.S. spy drone to turn around before shooting it down, and that another spy plane with around 35 crew members was flying near the drone, but Iran chose not to target it.
The downing of the drone Thursday came after Iran said the drone had flown into Iranian airspace with transponders turned off. The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said Iran warned the drone four times, and that the drone would have transmitted the warnings to its “central stations.”
“The last warning by Iran’s air defense was given at 03:55 Thursday morning to the U.S. spy drone,” Mr. Hajizadeh said on state television. “Because they ignored our warnings, the U.S. drone was downed at 04:05.”
The U.S. has insisted the drone was in international airspace.
The incident has set off a scramble to retrieve the parts of the $130 million spy plane. Iran also unveiled Friday what it said was debris from the downed drone collected off the shore of Kuh Mobarak in Iran. “This is in fact evidence of the U.S. air invasion of our territorial waters,” said Mr. Hajizadeh, adding that the parts had been sent to Tehran.
General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force, displayed debris purportedly from a downed U.S. drone in Tehran Friday. Photo: meghdad madadi/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
On Thursday, each side had refrained from additional escalatory steps, and Mr. Trump later in the day appeared to defuse the crisis by suggesting that the shootdown might have been done without the blessing of Tehran’s top leadership.
On Thursday, each side had refrained from additional escalatory steps, and Mr. Trump later in the day appeared to defuse the crisis by suggesting that the shootdown might have been done without the blessing of Tehran’s top leadership.
“I imagine someone made a mistake,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “We didn’t have a man or woman in the drone. It would have made a big, big difference.”
The U.S. has accused Iran of using mines to attack six foreign commercial ships, including oil tankers, and the two sides have been bitterly at odds over Iran’s nuclear program.
The developments on Thursday were a continuation of seven weeks of rising acrimony, with the U.S. variously deploying ships, warplanes, troops and antimissile batteries, while accusing Iranian forces of carrying out attacks on foreign ships and pro-Iran groups of rocket attacks around the region. Iran has denied it orchestrated these attacks.
Area of
detail
Where Iran
says drone
was shot down
Strait of
Hormuz
Where U.S.
says drone
was shot down
UNITED
ARAB
EMIRATES
Sources: Iranian government (Iran location); Defense Department (U.S. location)
Eye in the Sky
The RQ-4A drone downed by an Iranian missile is a cutting-edge surveillance plane equipped for high- and mid-altitude spying, with the wingspan of a Boeing 737.
The RQ-4A drone downed by an Iranian missile is a cutting-edge surveillance plane equipped for high- and mid-altitude spying, with the wingspan of a Boeing 737.
Approx. cost: $130 million
Maximum altitude: +65,000 ft.
Maximum endurance: 35 hours
Ferry range: 12,000 nautical miles
Payload: 2,000 lbs
Sources: Northrop Grumman (drone); Boeing (737 plane)
Iran said this week it would breach limits on enriched-uranium stockpiles stipulated in the nuclear deal. In response to the growing tensions, the U.S. has also said it would deploy 2,500 extra troops, an aircraft carrier and other reinforcements to the Middle East.
Leaders on each side have said they are not seeking war, and analysts have spelled out a range of scenarios on how each side might escalate the conflict as they undertake military preparations and maneuver diplomatically.
Nevertheless, the two sides aren’t involved in public or even unpublicized talks, officials say, and senior Pentagon officials have warned about the risk of miscalculation inherent in the protracted buildup.
The core issue has been the Trump administration’s insistence that Iran stop enriching all uranium and halt its “malign behavior” in the Middle East or endure harsh sanctions that have pushed the Iranian economy into a deep recession.
Until Thursday, the Trump administration’s assumption had been that Iran would probably express its unhappiness with Washington’s stance by orchestrating mine attacks on foreign vessels and having allied militias strike U.S. allies—while stopping short of attacking American forces.
Gen. Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters earlier this week that the U.S. had sent messages to the Iranian regime warning: “Hands off. Don’t come after our forces.”
Iran’s shootdown of the unmanned drone led some analysts to speculate that Tehran had calculated that the attack would avoid triggering a U.S. military response because it didn’t lead to American casualties.
Retired Adm. James Stavridis, a former North Atlantic Treaty Organization commander, described the attack as a “logical” but dangerous step for an Iranian regime that is trying to respond to the Trump administration’s campaign of maximum economic pressure with calibrated military actions of its own.
“Short of attacking a U.S. Navy warship or shooting down a manned aircraft, this destruction of a $130 million U.S. drone operating in international airspace is near the top of provocative moves imaginable,” Mr. Stavridis said in an interview.
Defending its actions, Iran insisted that the U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone was shot down in Iranian airspace, an assertion the U.S. Central Command flatly denied.
“We don’t seek war, but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters,” Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Twitter. “We’ll take this new aggression to #UN & show that the US is lying about international waters.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi summoned the Swiss ambassador to a meeting at the Iranian foreign ministry Friday, to protest the American drone flight, the Iranian news agency Fars said. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Tehran.
The RQ-4A Global Hawk undertakes real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over vast ocean and coastal regions, said Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. forces in the Middle East. Manufactured by U.S.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. , it can fly for over 30 hours at a time and has the same wingspan as a Boeing 737 jet.
Financially battered by punishing sanctions, Iran may have a number of reasons to ratchet up military tensions, analysts say. With its alleged mine attacks against foreign tankers, Iran demonstrated that it has the ability to hurt the world economy if the Trump administration persists with a campaign of punishing economic sanctions.
Raising the stakes in the region also might be an attempt by Iran to gain leverage if negotiations are ever held, since it could offer an end of hostilities as a concession.