The Pentagon provided reporters a map indicating that the U.S. drone shot down by Iran was over international waters, challenging Iran’s allegations that the drone was flying over Iran.
The Iran Revolutionary Guard said it shot down the drone over Iranian airspace, while two U.S. officials told The Associated Press that the downing happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz. The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.
By Nassir Karimi and Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
President Donald Trump’s Iran policy is ultimately aimed at bringing Tehran to the negotiating table, the U.S. special envoy for Iran testified Wednesday as lawmakers demanded clarity about the administration’s strategy in the Middle East.
In an effort to bolster its public case against Iran, the Pentagon on Monday released new photos that officials said show that members of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard were responsible for attacks last week on two oil tankers near the Persian Gulf.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reaching out to wary foreign leaders to frame alleged Iranian attacks in a Middle East oil shipping route as a problem for the world at large, especially for Asian countries vitally dependent on that oil.
The U.S. military on Friday released a video it said shows Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz.
Two tankers in the Gulf of Oman near the strategic Strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked on Thursday, an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the U.S. Navy rushed to assist amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil Corp. began evacuating staff from Basra, and Bahrain ordered its citizens out of Iraq and Iran over "the recent escalations and threats."