Iran shoots down US drone as tensions soar

TEHRAN/MOSCOW/WASHINGTON/LONDON/PARIS: Iran shot down a US spy drone on Thursday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, with the two sides at odds whether it was in Iranian or international airspace, in the latest incident stoking tensions between the arch-foes. 

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the "US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone" was hit with a missile "after violating Iranian air space" over the waters of Hormozgan province.

The Pentagon confirmed a US surveillance drone was shot down by Iranian forces, but it insisted the unmanned aircraft was in international airspace.

The incident comes at a time of growing antagonism between Iran and the United States following two waves of still unexplained attacks on Gulf shipping, which Washington has blamed on Tehran.

Iran has denied any involvement and hinted the US might have orchestrated them itself to provide a pretext for the use of force against the Islamic republic. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said the downing of the drone was "a clear message" his country will defend its borders.

Iran will "respond to all foreign aggression and our reaction is, and will be, categorical and absolute", General Hossein Salami said, quoted by Tasnim news agency. "We declare that we are not looking for war but we are ready to respond to any declaration of war," he added.

The Pentagon said later in a statement that an Iranian surface-to-air missile had brought down a US Gold Hawk high-altitude drone over the Strait of Hormuz. "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," it said. "This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace."

Tensions have been running high between Iran and the United States ever since President Donald Trump abandoned a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement in May last year.

The subsequent re-imposition of crippling unilateral sanctions has dealt a heavy blow to Iran’s already flagging economy.

In the meanwhile, Iran said Thursday it would go to the UN to prove that a US spy drone it shot down had entered Iranian airspace, contrary to Washington’s claims. "We’ll take this new aggression to #UN & show that the US is lying about international waters," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, after a US general said the drone was taken down some 34 kilometres off the Iranian coast. "The US wages #EconomicTerrorism on Iran, has conducted covert action against us & now encroaches on our territory," he wrote. "We don’t seek war, but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters."

The Pentagon released a graphic pinpointing the position of the drone on a map of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic passage through which some 35 percent of the world’s seaborne oil passes.

The downing with an Iranian surface-to-air missile "occurred in the vicinity of established air corridors between Dubai, UAE, and Oman", said Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, who commands US air forces in the region.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said Thursday that Tehran had made a "very big" error, after Iranian forces shot down a US spy drone near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. "Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in his first public reaction to the strike.

Trump has repeatedly said he does not favour war with Iran unless it is to stop the country getting a nuclear weapon -- something Iranian leaders insist they are not pursuing.

Critics of the Trump administration say that his policy of "maximum pressure" -- including crippling economic sanctions, abandonment of a complex international deal to regulate Iran’s nuclear activities, and deployment of extra sea, air and land forces to the region -- make war ever more likely.

US President Donald Trump has not ruled out an air strike against Iran in retaliation for the shooting down of a US Navy drone. The US military insists the drone was over international waters, but Iran says this is false.

The robot aircraft was shot down by an Iranian missile on Thursday morning local time (1135 GMT on Wednesday), the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed, but said the Iranian reports that the drone was in its airspace were “false.”

“This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace,” said Captain Bill Urban, CENTCOM spokesman.

Asked if the US was considering a retaliatory strike, Trump told reporters at the White House, “You'll soon find out.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said should the United States try to use force against Iran, a catastrophe will follow, because the effects of a military solution are very hard to gauge.

Putin made the remarks during the annual question-and-answer session on Thursday. "This [the use of US military force against Iran] would be a catastrophe at least for the region, because it would trigger violence and, possibly, an increase in the number of refugees from the region," Putin said, Moscow-based TASS news agency reported.

"For those who might make such attempts, the consequences would be very sad, too, because it is very hard to foresee what the use of military force might entail." "Iran is a Shia country. Even the Islamic world believes that they are people capable of going to extremes if they have to protect themselves and their country," President Putin said. "What these extremes will evolve into is anyone’s guess. It is hard to tell whom they will affect. It is very undesirable to see the events follow this scenario."

French President Emmanuel Macron sent his top diplomatic adviser to Iran this week as part of European efforts to defuse tensions between Tehran and Washington, the French presidency said Thursday.

The adviser, Emmanuel Bonne, held "high-level meetings" Wednesday in Tehran, "with the aim of contributing to the deescalation of tensions in the region", Macron´s office said. The presidency refused to say whom Bonne met, adding only that he left Tehran on Wednesday evening.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday the United States has no appetite to go to war with Iran, after Tehran shot down a US military surveillance drone in the Gulf region.

Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told reporters that 20 lawmakers will receive a briefing to learn more about the incident. “I think it’s a dangerous situation,” Pelosi said. “We have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests. We also cannot be reckless in what we do, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say. I don’t think the president wants to go to war. There’s no appetite for going to war in our country.”

Pelosi said tensions were high in the region and worried that “a miscalculation on either side could provoke something very bad.”

Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs said on Thursday Iran has created a grave situation and jeopardised global oil supplies with its aggressive behavior, adding that the kingdom was consulting with allies on next steps.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are among countries that have blamed Iran for attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit route for global oil supplies. Tehran has denied involvement. “I think the situation is very grave because of the aggressive behavior of Iran,” Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in London.