FILE PHOTO: A U.S. sailor walks on the flight deck of USS Boxer (LHD-4) in the Arabian Sea off Oman July 16, 2019. Picture taken July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo
July 19, 2019
By Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. Navy has destroyed one of its drones, saying all of its unmanned planes were safe, but there was no sign of a major Gulf escalation despite fears both sides could blunder into war.
In the latest episode to test nerves around the strategic waterway, Trump said on Thursday the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a “provocative and hostile action” and had ignored several calls to stand down.
Iran dismissed the report.
“All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz … returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control,” Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
“And there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer.”
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the drone on Thursday was brought down through electronic jamming.
CAUTION FROM BOTH SIDES
Gulf tensions are high, with fears the United States and its longtime foe Iran could stumble into war. But despite tough talk on both sides, Washington and Tehran have shown restraint.
The United States has blamed Iran for a series of attacks since mid-May on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery. Tehran rejects the allegations.
Iran in June shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf with a surface-to-air missile, saying the drone was in its airspace. Washington says it was in international skies.
The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington.
“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] by mistake!,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Twitter, referring to a U.S. warship in the strategic waterway.
Relations between the United States and Iran have worsened since last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran. Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work long seen by the West as a cover for developing atomic bombs in return for the lifting of sanctions.
The United States has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran’s oil trade and says it wants to increase pressure on Tehran to renegotiate the accord, discuss its ballistic missile program and modify its policies in the Middle East, where Washington is allied to several Arab states opposed to Iran.
Iranian oil exports have dropped nearly ten fold to around 0.3 million bpd in June from regular levels of 2.8 million bpd in early 2018.
The United States is struggling to win its allies’ support for an initiative to heighten surveillance of vital Middle East oil shipping lanes because of fears it will increase tension with Iran, six sources familiar with the matter said.
Washington proposed on July 9 boosting efforts to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen where it blames Iran and its proxies for tanker attacks. Iran denies the charges.
But with Washington’s allies reluctant to commit new weaponry or fighting forces, a senior Pentagon official told Reuters that the United States’ aim was not to set up a military coalition but to shine a “flashlight” in the region to deter attacks on commercial shipping.
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(Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by William Maclean)
