Airstrikes would have marked a dramatic escalation in the already high tensions between the two nations and would raise the specter of a broader conflict in the volatile region
President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Iran after an American drone was shot down by Iranian armed forces, but then decided not to go through with them, the New York Times reported Thursday night. The targets included radar and missile batteries, the newspaper said, citing unnamed administration officials. The operation was actually underway on Thursday evening — with planes and ships heading toward their targets — when the administration called off the attack, according to the Times.
The White House declined to comment on the report. The Times said it was unclear why the attack did not go forward. Airstrikes would have marked a dramatic escalation in the already high tensions between the two nations and would raise the specter of a broader conflict in the volatile region, which supplies one-third of the world’s oil.
Earlier Thursday, Donald Trump downplayed Iran’s attack on the US Navy drone in the Persian Gulf that escalated regional tensions and fueled a surge in oil prices, suggesting a “loose and stupid” individual may have been responsible for the strike.
“I would imagine it was a general or somebody who made a mistake by shooting that drone down,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I find it hard to believe it was intentional. It could have been somebody who was loose and stupid.” The last time the US launched a significant military operation against Iran was Operation Praying Mantis in 1988. In that operation, US Navy ships sank two Iranian ships and destroyed two Iranian surveillance platforms.
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