Donald Trump Says 150 Iranian Lives Are Not Proportionate To A Drone, But The US Military Was Ready To Retaliate
On Friday, US President Donald Trump declared that the American military was prepared to execute a retaliatory strike against Iran in response to the shooting down of its drone. However, just minutes before the attack was due to take place, he canceled it as it would have caused only 150 Iranian casualties – which he considered inadequate compensation for the loss of the US BAMS-D RQ-4A Global Hawk High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).
“We were ready to retaliate last night on three targets when I asked, how many would die. 150, sir, was the answer from a general. Ten minutes before the strike, I stopped it. Not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone,” tweeted the US president.
His statement comes hours after Iranian Aerospace Force claims that it could have brought down a US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft violating its airspace but instead chose to hit the RQ-4A Global Hawk to “send a message” and “warn the terrorist forces of the US”.
As a result of the downing of the drone, which Iran claims violated its airspace, which Washington previously denied, tensions between the two countries have spiked after a series of attacks on tankers that Washington alleges Tehran ordered. Trump’s latest tweet, however, suggests that the US-Iran flashpoint is nearing its climax.
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In addition, Trump suggested that new sanctions had been imposed on Iran, but he did not elaborate.
Our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, the best in the world. Sanctions are biting, and more were added last night. Iran can NEVER have nuclear weapons, not against the USA, and not against the whole world,” said Trump.
Also, he criticized the previous US President Barack Obama for conducting a bad deal with the West Asian nation.
Under President Trump, the Iran nuclear deal was terminated and tough sanctions were implemented. This was a relief to many as before this, Obama had provided the Iranians with an astronomical sum of money, including 1.8 billion dollars in cash, which would no doubt give them a free route to obtaining nuclear weapons. The result? After years of disrupting the Middle East, today Iran is weakened, broken – their cries for ‘Death to America’ falling on deaf ears.
After intense debate among the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders in the White House, Trump canceled a military strike with moments to spare.
On Thursday evening, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed that the debris of the US drone had been retrieved from Iranian territorial waters where it was shot down, proving that the aircraft violated Iranian airspace. According to him, Iran does not want war but will defend its skies, land, and waters with zeal.
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