The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Thursday shot down a US surveillance drone for violating Iran airspace, an assertion denied by Washington. US President Donald Trump initially said Iran had made “a very big mistake” but later told reporters he doubted the drone downing was intentional.
Several ranking US lawmakers, however, have called for taking action against Iran over the incident.
In particular, US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday the US must undertake a “measured response” to Iran.
“Iran directly attacked a United States asset over international waters. This provocation comes a week after they attacked and destroyed two commercial tankers in international waters. There must be a measured response to these actions”, McCarthy and Representatives Michael McCaul, Mac Thornberry and Devin Nunes said in a joint statement.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that debris from the US drone was located in Iranian territorial waters.
Zarif stressed that Washington continues to wage “economic terrorism” against the Islamic republic. Tehran is not seeking war, but just wants to “defend [its] skies, land and waters”, he added.
The US Air Force Central Command refuted Tehran's claims that the RQ-4 UAV (unmanned flying vehicle) was shot down over its territory and said that the incident was an attempt to disrupt US ability to monitor the area following recent threats…
