Amid Escalating Tensions, Iran Shot Down A U.S. Drone

Iraqi soldiers guard the entry of Zubair oilfield after a Katyusha rocket hit a drilling company in the Burjesiya area, a key oil-producing region hosting various Iraqi and foreign companies including US major Exxon ... Iraqi soldiers guard the entry of Zubair oilfield after a Katyusha rocket hit a drilling company in the Burjesiya area, a key oil-producing region hosting various Iraqi and foreign companies including US major Exxon Mobil, north of the Iraqi city of Basra on June 19, 2019. - US assets in Iraq have been targeted at least five times in as many days, officials, amid a tense standoff between Baghdad's key allies, Washingon and Tehran. The attacks follow a series of operations against tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters which the US has blamed on Iran, raising fears of a regional war. (Photo by Hussein FALEH / AFP) (Photo credit should read HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS

June 20, 2019 8:29 a.m.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. drone on Thursday, though the two countries differ on the particulars, according to the Associated Press.

The Guard insists that it shot the drone down in Iranian airspace; the U.S. contends that it was flying over an international zone in the Strait of Hormuz.

Either way, the strike is just the latest in a string of what the U.S. sees as Iranian acts of aggression, after the blown-up oil tankers (Iran denies culpability) and the nation’s declaration that it was going to exceed its nuclear stockpile limitations spelled out in the 2015 deal President Donald Trump wrenched the U.S. out of two years ago.

Trump has reportedly been urging his advisers to tone down the notes of aggression, not at all eager to be drawn into open conflict. The Pentagon announced Monday that it was sending 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions rise.

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Kate Riga (@Kate_Riga24) is a D.C. reporter for TPM and cohost of the Josh Marshall Podcast.

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Notable Replies

zillacop says:

June 20, 2019

OMG, this is not what we need.
castor_troy says:

June 20, 2019

Checks up stock quotes for Northrop Grumman.
opaquesquid says:

June 20, 2019

Despite John Bolton’s best efforts to provoke a hot war with Iran, Trump continues to send verbal signals that he doesn’t have the stomach to be a wartime Commander-In-Chief (providing equivocation and vague mea culpas on behalf of Iran in the same manner as when he excuses Kim Jong Un’s behavior).

Fingers crossed that Trump’s natural aversion to real, face-to-face confrontation will head off the chickenhawk faction in the Executive Branch.
fuashcroft says:

June 20, 2019

Bolton seen dancing a jig in the West Wing in the background…
ralph_vonholst says:

June 20, 2019

The Beeb has a good article and brief analysis. This sucker is as big as a small airliner. I’m thinking 100 megabucks apiece, easy. Glad I don’t have to pay for them /s.

BBC News

US confirms drone was shot down by Iranian missile

It happened over the Strait of Hormuz, amid soaring tensions between the US and Iran.

This is the first direct incident of the current crisis involving the US and Iranian militaries and is a powerful reminder of the dangers of escalation in the Gulf.
As far as the Iranians are concerned, the downing of the drone was intended to send a clear and explicit message to the Americans - “our borders are our red line” - a point underscored by the IRGC’s commander-in-chief.
So there is no doubting who shot down the US drone, an MQ-4C Triton. It is a massive aircraft with a wing-span equivalent to a small airliner. But the two sides differ as to where it happened. The Iranians say it was in their airspace; the Americans say that it was not.
According to some reports, US President Donald Trump himself is eager to dial down the tension, fearing a spillover into outright conflict. But this is just the kind of incident that could provoke just such a cycle of action and response.

The Iranians have concluded that Trump is a paper tiger. Viz. Maduro, Kim Jong Un.