US prepped for strikes on Iran before approval was withdrawn
The United States made preparations for a military strike
against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone, but the
operation was abruptly called off with just hours to go, a US official said.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the
operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the targets would
have included radars and missile batteries. The New York Times reported that
President Donald Trump had approved the strikes Thursday night, but then called
them off. The newspaper cited anonymous senior administration officials.
The White House on Thursday night declined requests for
comment.
Asked earlier in the day about a US response to the attack,
Trump said, “You’ll soon find out.”
The swift reversal was a stark reminder of the serious risk
of military conflict between US and Iranian forces as the Trump administration
combines a “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of
American forces in the region. As tensions mounted in recent weeks, there have
been growing fears that either side could make a dire miscalculation that led
to war.
According to the official who spoke to The Associated Press,
the strikes were recommended by the Pentagon and were among the options
presented to senior administration officials.
It was unclear how far the preparations had gone, but no
shots were fired or missiles launched, the official said.
The military operation was called off around 7:30 p.m.
Washington time, after Trump had spent most of Thursday discussing Iran
strategy with top national security advisers and congressional leaders.
The downing of the US drone — a huge, unmanned aircraft —
over the Strait of Hormuz prompted accusations from the US and Iran about who
was the aggressor. Iran insisted the drone violated Iranian airspace;
Washington said it had been flying over international waters.
Trump’s initial comments on the attack were succinct. He
declared in a tweet that “Iran made a very big mistake!” But he also suggested
that shooting down the drone — which has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 737 —
was a foolish error rather than an intentional escalation, suggesting he may
have been looking for some way to avoid a crisis.
“I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want
to know the truth,” Trump said at the White House. “I think that it could have
been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it.”
Trump, who has said he wants to avoid war and negotiate with
Iran over its nuclear ambitions, cast the shootdown as “a new wrinkle... a new
fly in the ointment.” Yet he also said “this country will not stand for it,
that I can tell you.”
He said the American drone was unarmed and unmanned and
“clearly over international waters.” It would have “made a big, big difference”
if someone had been inside, he said.
But fears of open conflict shadowed much of the discourse in
Washington. As the day wore on, Trump summoned his top national security
advisers and congressional leaders to the White House for an hour-long briefing
in the Situation Room. Attendees included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Joint Chiefs
Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and
Army Secretary Mark Esper, whom Trump has said he’ll nominate as Pentagon
chief.
Pompeo and Bolton have advocated hardline policies against
Iran, but Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee,
said “the president certainly was listening” when congressional leaders at the
meeting urged him to be cautious and not escalate the already tense situation.
On Capitol Hill, leaders urged caution, and some lawmakers
insisted the White House must consult with Congress before taking any actions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said no specific options for a US
response were presented at the meeting. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
said, “The administration is engaged in what I would call measured responses.”
And late Thursday, House Republicans on the Foreign Affairs, intelligence and
Armed Services committees issued a statement using the same word, saying, “There
must be a measured response to these actions.”
The Trump administration has been putting increasing
economic pressure on Iran for more than a year. It reinstated punishing
sanctions following Trump’s decision to pull the US out of an international
agreement intended to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from
earlier sanctions.
The other world powers who remain signed on to the nuclear
deal have set a meeting to discuss the US withdrawal and Iran’s announced plans
to increase its uranium stockpile for June 28, a date far enough in the future
to perhaps allow tensions to cool.
On Thursday, Iran called the sanctions “economic terrorism.”
Citing Iranian threats, the US recently sent an aircraft
carrier to the Arabian Gulf region and deployed additional troops alongside the
tens of thousands already there. All this has raised fears that a
miscalculation or further rise in tensions could push the US and Iran into an
open conflict 40 years after the Iranian Revolution.
“We do not have any intention for war with any country, but
we are fully ready for war,” Revolutionary Guard commander Gen. Hossein Salami
said in a televised address.
The paramilitary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it shot down the drone at 4:05 a.m. Thursday when
it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in southern Iran’s
Hormozgan province. Kouhmobarak is about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) southeast
of Tehran.
Taking issue with the US version of where the attack
occurred, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that his
country had retrieved sections of the military drone “in OUR territorial waters
where it was shot down.” He said, “We don’t seek war but will zealously defend
our skies, land & waters.”
Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, commander of US Central
Command air forces in the region, disputed that contention, telling reporters
that the aircraft was 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the nearest Iranian
territory and flying at high altitude when struck by a surface-to-air missile.
The US military has not commented on the mission of the remotely piloted
aircraft that can fly higher than 10 miles in altitude and stay in the air for
over 24 hours at a time.
“This attack is an attempt to disrupt our ability to monitor
the area following recent threats to international shipping and free flow of
commerce,” he said.
Late Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration barred
American-registered aircraft from flying over parts of the Arabian Gulf and the
Gulf of Oman.
Democratic leaders in particular urged the president to work
with US allies and stressed the need for caution to avoid any unintended
escalation.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said he told Trump that
conflicts have a way of escalating and “we’re worried that he and the
administration may bumble into a war.”
