2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone
2019 Iranian shoot-down of American drone | |
---|---|
Part of 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis | |
Location | |
Target | United States Northrop RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone |
Date | June 20, 2019 04:05 IRDT[1] |
Executed by | Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force |
Outcome | Drone destroyed |
On June 20, 2019, Iran's integrated system of Air Defense Forces shot down a United States RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone[2][3][4] with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz.[5][6][7] Iran and the U.S. differ on where the incident actually occurred.[5] Iranian officials said that the drone violated their airspace, while U.S. officials responded that the drone was in international airspace.[8][9][10]
The incident occurred amid rising tensions between the two countries and nearly resulted in an armed confrontation.
Background
The U.S. has been flying surveillance drones in support of maritime security and to spy on Iran for many years. To abide by international law, such flights must take place in international airspace. Aside from the frequent legal reconnaissance flights, Iran has protested what it alleges are violations of its sovereign air space. It has said that two U.S. spy drones crashed in Iran, a
According to the U.S., the drone involved in the June 2019 incident was one of four Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator (BAMS-D) RQ-4 Global Hawks built as predecessors to the
The BAMS-D flies at high altitude, but is not a stealth aircraft.[13] It does not carry munitions.[13]
Incident
Iranians stated that the P-8 had heeded warnings and moved further off the Iranian coast.[24] The P-8 is a naval aircraft that the U.S. uses for surveillance that is equipped with weapons to destroy ships and submarines.[26] Hours later, the Pentagon confirmed the presence of a P-8 Poseidon aircraft close to the incident.[23]
U.S. President Donald Trump later echoed Hajizadeh's statement regarding the P-8:
There was a plane with 38 people yesterday, did you see that? I think that’s a big story. They had it in their sights and they didn’t shoot it down. I think they were very wise not to do that. And we appreciate that they didn’t do that. I think that was a very wise decision.[27]
On June 25, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev echoed the Iranian account, stating Russian military intelligence showed that the U.S. drone was shot down in Iranian airspace.[28][29] Patrushev said that Iran "has always been and remains our ally and partner".[30]
U.S. response
Aborted military response
Following the incident, President Donald Trump tweeted that Iran had made a "big mistake".
Trump later confirmed that he aborted an attack, tweeting that he was in "no hurry" to attack Iran and halted his order "10 minutes before the strike" because it was only then that he learned that Iranian casualties were estimated to be 150 killed, which he said was "not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone".[23] In an interview with NBC News, he expounded on his decision-making process, saying that though the strike package was "cocked and loaded", he had not given final approval to the operation and added that no warplanes had taken off before the reversal. He reiterated that he did not desire war with Iran and was open to unconditional talks with Iranian leadership, but affirmed that they "can't have nuclear weapons" and warned that in the event of a conflict there would be "obliteration like you've never seen before".[37]
A June 22 article in The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified administration officials close to internal deliberations, reported that, privately, Trump bemoaned the cost of the downed drone – around $130 million (not including R&D) – but said that the loss would pale in comparison in the eyes of U.S. citizens to potential Iranian casualties. One source said the collateral damage estimate of 150 killed came from the White House, not the Pentagon, which two others said guessed lower. The WSJ report also stated that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford cautioned against a strike, significantly influencing Trump's decision.[36]
In leaked diplomatic documents, UK ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch questioned Trump's claim that he had aborted the missile strike because it would have caused 150 casualties, saying it "doesn't stand up". "It's more likely that he was never fully on board and that he was worried about how this apparent reversal of his 2016 campaign promises would look come 2020," Darroch posited.[38]
On June 23, Bolton warned Iran to not "mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness" and that "no one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East. Our military is rebuilt, new and ready to go."[39]
On June 27, a week after the incident,
Cyber attacks and sanctions
On June 22, it was reported that Trump had approved cyberattacks intended to disable IRGC computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches the day of the shoot-down. The cyber strikes were in development "for weeks if not months" and handled by
On June 24, Trump announced new targeted sanctions in Executive Order 13876 against Iranian and Revolutionary Guard Corps leadership, including
Also on June 24, Iranian
See also
- June 2019 Gulf of Oman incident
- May 2019 Gulf of Oman incident
- Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
- Iran Air Flight 655
- Iran–U.S. RQ-170 incident
References
- ^ "US confirms drone was shot down by Iranian missile". BBC News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Bellon, Tina; Stone, Mike (June 20, 2019). Oatis, Jonathan (ed.). "Factbox: The Global Hawk drone shot down by Iran". Reuters. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
- ^ Kube, Courtney; Helsel, Phil; Arouzi, Ali (June 20, 2019). "Iran shoots down U.S. drone in international space, U.S. officials say". NBC News. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
Iranian and U.S. officials have previously delivered conflicting reports identifying the drone as an RQ-4A Global Hawk or its naval variant, the MQ-4 Triton.
- ^ Picheta, Rob; Wagner, Meg; Rocha, Veronica; Hayes, Mike; Hammond, Elise (June 20, 2019). "Iran shoots down US drone". CNN. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
- ^ a b "Strait of Hormuz: US confirms drone shot down by Iran". BBC. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ a b "Iran shoots down American drone in "clear message" to U.S." CBS News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ "Iran's Revolutionary Guard shoots down US drone". Al Jazeera. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ a b Law, Tara (June 21, 2019). "Iran Shot Down a $176 Million U.S. Drone. Here's What to Know About the RQ-4 Global Hawk". TIME. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
- ^ "US confirms drone was shot down by Iranian missile". BBC. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the aircraft had violated Iranian airspace, and that the incident sent a "clear message to America". But the US military insisted the drone had been over international waters at the time, and condemned what it called an "unprovoked attack" by the IRGC.
- ^ "Iran shoots down U.S. drone in international space, U.S. officials say". NBC News. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Tyson, Ann Scott (November 8, 2005). "Iran Protests U.S. Aerial Drones". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Shane, Scott; Sanger, David E. (December 7, 2011). "Drone Crash in Iran Reveals Secret U.S. Surveillance Effort". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c Axe, David (June 20, 2019). "Iran Knocked Out of the Sky a Very Special U.S. Drone (And Exposed a Key Weakness)". The National Interest. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ "GAO-15-342SP DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs" (PDF). US Government Accountability Office. March 2015. p. 115. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ "IRGC Reveals More Details of Downing US Drone – Politics news". Tasnim News Agency. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ "Iran's Zarif tweets that downed U.S. drone took off from UAE". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Shear, Michael; Schmitt, Eric; Crowley, Michael; Haberman, Maggie (June 20, 2019). "Trump Approves Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulls Back". The New York Times. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Deptula, Dave (June 25, 2019). "What Is The Next U.S. Move With Iran?". Forbes. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ Rogoway, Tyler (June 20, 2019). "Everything We Know About Iran's Claim That It Shot Down A U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk Drone". The Drive. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ LaPorta, James; O'Connor, Tom (June 21, 2019). "Donald Trump Decided to Strike Iranian Missile System, Then Changed His Mind". Newsweek. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ "Pentagon Releases Image Showing Downed U.S. Drone's Flight Path". Haaretz. Reuters. June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ @CENTCOM (June 20, 2019). "The ISR Flight path and grid plots for the RQ-4A shot down by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. "This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset that had not violated Iranian airspace at any time …" – Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, @USAFCENT" (Tweet). Retrieved June 21, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c Shear, Michael D.; Cooper, Helene; Schmitt, Eric (June 21, 2019). "Trump Says He Was 'Cocked and Loaded' to Strike Iran, but Pulled Back". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ a b Borger, Julian (June 21, 2019). "How a drone's flight took the US and Iran to the brink of war". The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ Steinbuch, Yaron (June 21, 2019). "Iran says it refrained from blowing up US plane carrying 35 people". New York Post.
- ^ "Top Iranian general: We could have downed a US plane with crew of 35, but didn't". Times of Israel. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ Embury-Dennis, Tom (June 25, 2019). "Russia says downed US drone was in Iranian air space, contradicting key claim by Washington". The Independent. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ Kuzmin, Andrey; Lowe, Christian (June 25, 2019). Graff, Peter (ed.). "Putin aide: downed U.S. drone was in Iranian airspace". Reuters. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
- ^ O'Connor, Tom (June 26, 2019). "Russia Says U.S.-Iran 'War' Possible, But 'We Will Convince' Them to Talk". Newsweek.
- ^ "Trump says Iran drone shooting may have been 'mistake'". Dawn.com. Karachi. June 20, 2019. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
- ^ Gambrell, Jon (June 21, 2019). "Airlines reroute flights after Iran downs US military drone". Associated Press.
- ^ "U.S. requests UN Security Council meeting on Iran – diplomats". Rappler. June 22, 2019.
- ^ Margolin, Josh; Santucci, John; Faulders, Katherine (June 21, 2019). "President Trump ordered military strike on Iran, but reversed at last second: Sources". ABC News. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Watson, Ben; Peniston, Bradley (June 21, 2019). "Trump orders, cancels Iran strike; USAF's next air-to-air missile; Erdogan's threats, cont.; Children neglected in border detention; And a bit more". Defense One. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ a b Bender, Michael C.; Lubold, Gordon (June 22, 2019). "Trump Bucked National-Security Aides on Proposed Iran Attack". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 23, 2019.
- ^ Silva, Daniella (June 21, 2019). "Trump says he doesn't want war with Iran, but there will be 'obliteration' if it comes". NBC News. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ MacLellan, Kylie (July 7, 2019). Hardcastle, Elaine; Maclean, William (eds.). "UPDATE 2-Trump administration "uniquely dysfunctional", says UK ambassador to US -newspaper". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020.
- ^ "US security adviser Bolton in Israel tells Iran 'prudence' is not 'weakness'". DW News. June 23, 2019.
- ^ Insinna, Valerie (June 27, 2019). "US Air Force general: No pause in drone operations amid Iran tension". Defense News.
- ^ Nakashima, Ellen (June 22, 2019). "Trump approved cyber-strikes against Iranian computer database used to plan attacks on oil tankers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019.
- ^ Watson, Kathryn (June 24, 2019). "Trump issues "hard-hitting" Iran sanctions". CBS News.
- ^ "Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions with Respect to Iran". whitehouse.gov. June 24, 2019 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Latest sanctions on Iran will block 'billions' in assets: US". France24. June 24, 2019.
- ^ De Luce, Dan; Williams, Abigail (July 31, 2019). "U.S. slaps sanctions on Iran's foreign minister". NBC News. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
- ^ Gigova, Radina (December 15, 2019). "Iran says it's foiled major 'organized' attack on government servers". CNN. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ Barnes, Julian E.; Schmitt, Eric; Gibbons-Neff, Thomas (June 23, 2019). "White House Is Pressing for Additional Options, Including Cyberattacks, to Deter Iran". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2019.