Mike Norris, Co-Editor, The American Dossier
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are on the rise as President Donald Trump stated the U.S.S. Boxer shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump announced that the Boxer took defensive action after the drone closed to within 1,000 yards of the ship and ignored multiple calls to stand down. He said: “No doubt about it. We shot it down.”
This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters," the President said. "The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, facilities, and interests."
He called on other countries to condemn Iran's "attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce."
“I also call on other nations to protect their ships as they go through the strait and to work with us in the future," Trump said.
National Security Adviser John Bolton stated “there is no question this was an Iranian drone and Boxer took it out.”
The incident was the latest escalation of tensions between the two countries. Last week, the Boxer downed an Iranian drone in the strait. Last month, Iran shot down an American military drone.
But Iran denies that its drone was struck and claimed that all of its unmanned aircraft in the region returned to base safely.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is in New York for U.N. meetings, said that there was “no information about losing a drone.”
The semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted Gen. Abolfazl Shekari as saying that “all Iranian drones that are in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, including the one which the U.S. President mentioned, after carrying out scheduled identification and control missions, have returned to their bases.”
Shekarchi also said that there have been no reports of any confrontation between the Boxer and an Iranian drone.
An Iranian lawmaker said that Trump is seeking to increase tensions in the region by “falsely claiming” that the U.S. ship targeted an Iranian drone.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (“I.R.G.”) has released video images it claims proves that the U.S. ship did not destroy an Iranian drone.
The I.R.G.’s website, sepahnews.com, published a statement saying the images will show that the drone had been carrying out its regular mission as the Boxer arrived in the Strait. It didn’t say when the images would be released.
Iranian state TV showed video it said was taken by an Iranian drone of Boxer and another American ship.
On its website, the I.R.G. said that the drone recorded three hours of video of the Boxer and five other vessels starting when the ships first entered the Strait.
The I.R.G. said that the drone sent the images before and after the time the U.S. claimed the aircraft was destroyed.
But, according to B.B.C. diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams, the pictures are inconclusive. He said that at least some of the images appear to have been filmed from an Iranian helicopter that was also on the scene.
According to a Wall Street Journal reporter on board the Boxer at the time, an Iranian Bell 212 helicopter was flying "yards away" from the vessel before being chased off by American helicopters.
The statement added that I.R.G. forces continue to carefully monitor all movements of foreigners — especially “the terrorist forces” of the U.S. and the British in the Strait and the Persian Gulf.
The price of oil has risen as tensions escalate in the region, where approximately 20% of the world’s crude is shipped.
Neither Trump nor the Pentagon clarified how the Boxer destroyed the drone, or provided any video or other evidence from the incident. Several U.S. officials said the ship used electronic jamming to bring the drone down, instead of hitting it with a missile. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on the record about the event.
Now, the I.R.G. says it has seized a British oil tanker that was passing through the Strait.
The first vessel, the “Stena Impero,” was surrounded by heavily-armed Iranian vessels and a helicopter around and ordered to turn north.
The second vessel, the Mesdar, was ordered by Iran to turn north around 45 minutes later.
The I.R.G. said that the Stena Impero was seized for “non-compliance with international maritime laws and regulations” and has transferred the vessel to an Iranian port. The report did not elaborate what port it was transferred to.
The owners of the Stena Impero, which was bound for Saudi Arabia, said they had been unable to contact the vessel, which had 23 personnel on board and was "heading north towards Iran".
The British government says it is urgently seeking information after reports Iran has seized the British-flagged ship.
Last week, the Royal Navy warship frigate HMS Montrose drove off three Iranian vessels which tried to stop the commercial ship British Heritage as it sailed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said that “Iran is showing their colors” with the seizures. He said “Iran is in big trouble right now” because its economy has been crippled by economic sanctions. He said it would be easy to straighten out the problem, or to make it worse.
The President warned that although the U.S. doesn't have many tankers in the Gulf because it is trending toward energy independence, 'we have a lot of ships there that are warships.'
He predicted the situation 'is going to work out very nicely,' in part because of an informal but 'long standing' U.S.-UK mutual defense agreement.
The U.S. has also called on Iran to release a Panamanian-flagged Riah tanker and 12 of its crew, which was seized by the I.R.G during a naval patrol.
Iran said that the ship had been smuggling fuel, and released footage of Iranian speedboats circling it.
U.S. Central Command (“CENTCOM”) spokesman, Lt. Col. Earl Brown said that the U.S. had intensified air patrols over the Strait in response to the Iranian seizure.
After serving as an Airborne Infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division, Mike attended Florida State University, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and George Washington University, where he received his Masters in Political Management.
Since 2004, Mike has worked in the Florida Senate, where he was one of only two Chief’s of Staff under 30 and in the Michigan Senate, where he served as the Legislative Aide to the Assistant Minority Floor Leader. The 2018 election cycle was Mike’s eighth as a Political Consultant.
Mike previously served as the Secretary and Vice President of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, Regional Vice Chair for the Florida Federated Young Republicans and attended the 2012 Republican National Convention as an Alternate Delegate. He currently lives in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, with his rescue Pit Bull, Ike.
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