War of words between U.S and Iran after US military ‘spy’ drone shot down

War of words between U.S and Iran after shot down
War of words between U.S and Iran after shot down

Iran on Thursday shot down a U.S. military drone it said was on a spy mission over its territory but Washington said the aircraft was targeted in international air space in "an unprovoked attack".

The incidentfanned fears of wider military conflict in the Middle East as U.S. PresidentDonald Trump pursues a campaign of to isolate Iran over its nuclear andballistic missile programmes and role in regional wars.

It was thelatest in an escalating series of incidents in the Gulf region, a criticalartery for global oil supplies, since mid-May including explosive strikes onsix oil tankers as Tehran and Washington have slid towards confrontation.

Iran hasdenied involvement in any of the attacks, but global jitters about a new MiddleEast conflagration disrupting oil exports have triggered a jump in crudeprices. They surged by more than $3 to above $63 a barrel on Thursday.

SaudiArabia, Washington's main gulf ally, said Iran had created a grave situationwith its "aggressive behaviour" and the kingdom was consulting other Gulf Arabstates on next steps.

"When youinterfere with international shipping it has an impact on the supply of energy,it has an impact on the price of oil which has an impact on the world economy.It essentially affects almost every person on the globe," Adel al-Jubeir, Saudiminister of state for foreign affairs, told reporters in London.

Tensionsflared with Trump's withdrawal last year from world powers' 2015 nuclear accordwith Iran and have worsened as Washington imposed fresh sanctions to throttleTehran's vital oil trade and Iran retaliated earlier this week with a threat tobreach limits on its nuclear activities imposed by the deal.

U.S.Beefing up Mideast forces

Upping theante, Washington said on Monday it would deploy about 1,000 more troops, alongwith Patriot missiles and manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, to theMiddle East on top of a 1,500-troop increase announced after the May tankerattacks.

Iranian state media said the "spy" drone was brought down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, which is on the Gulf, with a locally made "3 Khordad" missile.

A U.S. official said the drone was a U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton and that it had been downed in international air space over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a third of the world's seaborne oil exits the Gulf..

Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Central Command, said Iran's account that the drone had been flying over Iranian territory was false.

"This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international air space," Urban said. The drone, he added, was downed over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 2335 GMT – in the early morning hours of local time in the Gulf.

The Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry insisted the drone had violated Iranian air space and warned of the consequences of such "illegal and provocative" measures.

Independentconfirmation of the drone's location when it was brought down was notimmediately available.

A IranianRevolutionary Guards statement said the drone's identification transponder hadbeen switched off "in violation of aviation rules and was moving in fullsecrecy" when it was downed, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Iranian "Redline"

"Our airspace is our red line and Iran has always responded and will continue torespond strongly to any country that violates our air space," Ali Shamkhani,secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told Iran's Tasnim newsagency.

The MQ-4CTriton's manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, says on its website that the Tritoncan fly for over 24 hours at a time at altitudes higher than 10 miles (16 km),with an operational range of 8,200 nautical miles.

The Trumpadministration sought on Wednesday to rally global support for its pressure onIran by displaying limpet mine fragments it said came from an oil tankerdamaged in the June 13 attacks, saying the ordnance closely resembled minespublicly displayed in Iranian military parades.

Europeandiplomats have said more evidence is needed to pinpoint responsibility for thetanker strikes.

Sanctionsnoose

The U.S.sanctions net draped over Iran, scuttling its oil exports and barring it fromthe dollar-dominated global finance system, have hammered Iran's economy,undoing the promise of trade rewards from the 2015 deal to curb its nuclearambitions.

Trump hassent forces including aircraft carriers, B-52 bombers and troops to the MiddleEast over the past few weeks. Iran said last week it was responsible for the securityof the Strait of Hormuz, calling on American forces to leave the Gulf.

Tehran hasalso said it will shortly suspend compliance with the nuclear deal's curbs onits uranium enrichment, meant to block any pathway to nuclear weaponscapability, and threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait ofHormuz.

But Trump –who sees the nuclear deal as flawed to Iran's advantage and requiringrenegotiation – and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have bothsaid they have no interest in starting a war.

HeightenedU.S.-Iranian tensions have also stoked concerns about increasing bloodshed incountries where Iran and its Saudi-led Gulf Arab regional rivals have long beenlocked in proxy battles for geopolitical dominance in the Middle East.

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