Pentagon accuses Iran of shooting missiles at U.S. drones
Pentagon accuses Iran of shooting missiles at U.S. drones
The Pentagon on Sunday accused Iran of attempting to shoot down a U.S. Reaper drone on June 13 as the unmanned surveillance aircraft was flying over one of two crippled tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
U.S. military officials for the first time also linked Iran to a separate missile attack in Yemen on June 6 that hit another Reaper drone and forced it to crash.
But the decision to publicly blame Iran for them increased chances that President Trump will boost U.S. forces in the Middle East or take other steps to intensify what the White House calls a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
Lt. Col. Earl Brown, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said a U.S. intelligence assessment had concluded that “a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9 [drone] over the Gulf of Oman to disrupt surveillance” of the crippled tanker.