Tensions are scalding hot in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Experts warn an armed conflict could break out at any moment between the United States and Iran.
For weeks, skirmishes have persisted over the shooting down of drones and the Iranians penchant of seizing other countries’ oil tankers.
One-third of the world’s crude oil goes through the 21-mile wide strait. (Newsweek)
President Donald Trump first revealed Thursday that Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer “took defensive action against an Iranian drone which had closed into a very near distance, approximately 1000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew.” The president said that “the drone was immediately destroyed” and urged international support against Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Russia, which joined China, the European Union, France, Germany and the United Kingdom in continuing to support a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran abandoned by last year by the Trump administration, has repeatedly called on both sides to de-escalate, but has especially blamed the U.S. for an increasingly dire situation in the region. On Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow had “taken note of” Trump’s recent remarks.
The Russians continue to prod the United States however they can.
“The concentration of manpower and materiel belonging to various countries in the Persian Gulf region is so high that any incidents are possible. The most important thing is to prevent the escalation scenario,” Ryabkov said, according to the state-run Tass Russian News Agency. “We can see once again that the situation is not just explosive. It is fraught with an outbreak of conflict.”
Trump had said earlier Friday, however, that there was “no doubt” that the U.S. knocked out the Iranian drone and his national security adviser John Bolton also said there was “no question” about it. Trump also told reporters that he was not concerned about the possibility of a clash because the U.S. has the “greatest” and “most deadly ships.”
“We hope for their sake they don’t do anything foolish,” Trump told reporters.
AAN Staff
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