Trump says 'Iran made a very big mistake' after US military confirms it shot down American drone

Jun 20, 2019, 10:27 AM ETChris Kaufman/The Appeal-Democrat via AP, FileWatchIran says it's 'ready for war'In a major provocation, Iran shot down an unarmed and unmanned U.S. RQ-4A Global Hawk drone while it was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement.Add Iran as an interest to stay up to date on the latest Iran news, video, and analysis from ABC News.Add InterestPresident Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that "Iran made a very big mistake."Iran made a very big mistake!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2019 The incident is sure to trigger serious discussions within the Trump administration about how to respond to a direct attack on a U.S. military asset that goes beyond recent attacks in the Middle East that the U.S. has blamed on Iran.Mid-morning Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that President Trump has "been kept up to date" and was briefed both Thursday morning and Wednesday night. She said the White House would “keep in touch with members on the Hill” but would not confirm any White House meetings on Iran.Gen. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, offered a strongly worded threat to the U.S. after the drone was downed."Shooting down the American spy drone had a clear, decisive, firm and accurate message," he said, translated from Farsi. "The message is that the guardians of the borders of Islamic Iran will decisively respond to the violation of any stranger to this land. The only solution for the enemies is to respect the territorial integrity and national interests of Iran."Koichi Kamoshida/Getty ImagesA full-scale model of The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned plane is displayed during a presentation at PiO Exhibition Center on March 24, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. more + "We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war. Today’s incident is a clear sign of this accurate message," Salami added.Earlier, Iranian state media had quoted Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying it had downed the drone when it entered Iranian airspace near the Kouhmobarak district north of the Strait of Hormuz."Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false," said CENTCOM spokesperson Navy Capt. Bill Urban in a statement on Thursday morning. "This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace."Urban said the RQ-4A Global Hawk, which "provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions (ISR) over vast ocean and coastal regions," was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19.Sepahnews via APIn this undated photo released by Sepahnews, the website of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami speaks in a meeting in Tehran, Iran. more + The incident is not the first time in recent days that Iran has targeted an American drone off its coast.Last Thursday, Iran attempted to shoot down an MQ-9 Reaper that was surveilling the attack on one of two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The United States has blamed Iran for being responsible for the attacks on the two tankers -- a claim Iran has denied."According to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9, at 6:45 a.m. local time, June 13, over the Gulf of Oman, to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous," CENTCOM spokesperson Lt. Col. Earl Brown said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday.Chris Kaufman/The Appeal-Democrat via AP, FileIn a Monday, June 30, 2008, file photo, Beale Air Force Base Airmen work on an RQ-4 Global Hawk into its hangar at Beale Air Force Base in Yuba County, Calif. more + "Subsequent analysis indicates that this was a likely attempt to shoot down or otherwise disrupt the MQ-9 surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous," Brown said.In early May, the Pentagon rushed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and a B-52 bomber task force to the Middle East to deter possible attacks by Iran or Iranian-backed groups on U.S. forces and U.S. interests in the region. </s> Iran says it shot down American drone; U.S. Army denies Iran’s state news agency says the drone – identified as ‘RQ-4 Global Hawk’ – was shot down when it entered the country’s airspace over the province of Hormozgan.

The U.S. military spokesman: ‘No U.S. aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace today.

The U.S. military did not fly over Iranian airspace on Wednesday, the U.S. military said, after a news website run by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said a U.S. “spy” drone was shot down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan

“No U.S. aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace today,” Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the U.S. military’s Central Command, said shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

“It was shot down when it entered Iran’s airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south,” the Guards’ website added.

The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) can fly at high altitudes for more than 30 hours, gathering near-real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather, maker Northrop Grumman says on its website.

Urban declined further comment. The U.S. military has in recent days confirmed an attempt by Iran to shoot down a U.S. drone last week as well as a successful shootdown of one on June 6 by Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen.

Tension between Iran and the United States has spiked since last year when President Donald Trump exited a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers and reimposed sanctions on the country.

Concerns about a military confrontation between Iran and the United States have mounted since attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week and four tankers off the United Arab Emirates on May 12, both near the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for global oil supplies.

The United States and its regional ally Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran for the incidents. Iran has denied responsibility.

To counter Iran’s threats, the U.S. military has sent forces, including aircraft carriers, B-52 bombers and troops to the Middle East. However, Trump said he does not seek war with Iran.

Iran said last week that it was responsible for the security of the Strait of Hormuz, calling on American forces to exit the Gulf.

In protest at Trump’s “maximum pressure”, in May Tehran said it would start enriching uranium at a higher level unless other European signatories to the deal protected its economy from the U.S. sanctions within 60 days.

State news agency IRNA even identified the drone as an “RQ-4 Global Hawk </s> Jonathan Lemire, Lisa Mascaro and Deb Riechmann, The Associated Press 

 



WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he's still considering military action against Iran after it downed an unmanned U.S. military aircraft, saying the use of force is "always on the table until we get this solved."

Days after initially saying he found it "hard to believe" the shoot-down was intentional, Trump accused Iran of "knowingly" targeting the plane. He reiterated that he aborted a planned military strike set for Thursday after learning approximately 150 Iranians would be killed.

"I don't want to kill 150 Iranians. I don't want to kill 150 of anything or anybody unless it's absolutely necessary," he told reporters as he left the White House for the Camp David presidential retreat. Meetings about Iran were on the agenda, Trump said.

Trump said "we very much appreciate" a decision by Iran's Revolutionary Guard not to shoot down a U.S. spy plane carrying more than 30 people, though he said the downing of the drone was "probably intentional."

"But regardless, they targeted something without a person in it, without a man or woman, and certainly without anybody from the United States in it. So, we want to be proportionate," Trump said.

The president's comments came as Iran summoned the United Arab Emirates' top envoy to Tehran to protest the neighbouring Arab nation's decision to allow the U.S. to use a base there to launch the drone that Iran says entered its airspace, state media reported Saturday.

Iran issued a "strong protest" to the UAE diplomat, saying Iran does not tolerate the facilitation of foreign forces that violate its territory, the report by the official IRNA news agency said.

The U.S. said its RQ-4A Global Hawk was shot down Thursday over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz, not inside Iranian airspace.

The shoot-down by elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces marked the first time the Islamic Republic directly attacked the American military amid mounting tensions over Tehran's unraveling nuclear deal with world powers.

The two countries disputed the circumstances leading up to an Iranian surface-to-air missile bringing down the drone, an unmanned aircraft with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737 jetliner and costing over $100 million.

British diplomat Andrew Murrison planned to visit Iran on Sunday and call for the "urgent de-escalation in the region and raise U.K. and international concerns about Iran's regional conduct" during talks with Tehran's government, Britain's Foreign Office said in a statement Saturday.

"At this time of increased regional tensions and at a crucial period for the future of the nuclear deal, this visit is an opportunity for further open, frank and constructive engagement with the government of Iran," the statement said.

The announcement came a day after Trump said he had called off military strikes on Iran minutes before they were to be carried out Thursday because it would have been out of proportion to the shoot-down of an unmanned American surveillance drone.

"I didn't like the idea of them knowingly shooting down an unmanned drone and then we kill 150 people. I didn't like it," Trump said Saturday.

Trump said U.S. sanctions on Iran have turned the country into an "economic mess." He said Iran will never be a wealthy nation again if its leadership remains intent on having nuclear weapons.

"The fact is we're not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "And when they agree to that, they are going to have a wealthy country, they're going to be so happy and I'm going to be their best friend."

The drone incident immediately heightened the crisis already gripping the wider region, which is rooted in Trump withdrawing the U.S. a year ago from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal and imposing crippling new sanctions on Tehran.

Recently, Iran quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium to be on pace to break one of the deal's terms by next week, while threatening to raise enrichment closer to weapons-grade levels on July 7 if Europe doesn't offer it a new deal.

In Iraq, security measures were increased at one of the country's largest air bases, which houses American trainers, a top Iraqi air force commander said Saturday. The U.S. military said operations at the base were going on as usual and there were currently no plans to evacuate personnel.

The stepped-up Iraqi security measures at Balad air base, just north of the capital of Baghdad, come amid the sharply rising tensions in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.

On Friday, Iran summoned Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner to hear Iran's protest over the alleged violation. Switzerland looks after U.S. interests in Iran. Tehran and Washington have had no diplomatic relations since 1979.

Iran said the U.S. drone was a "very dangerous provocation." </s> Iran shooting down US drone was a big mistake - Trump

Iranian state television said Islamic Revolution Guards Corps shot down a US spy drone over Iranian airspace

Iran has said it had recovered parts of a US spy drone in its territorial waters, after downing the aircraft in a missile strike described by US President Donald Trump as a "big mistake."

Under pressure to respond to the high-stakes incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where a series of tanker attacks have sent tensions soaring with Iran, Mr Trump initially struck a combative tone.

"Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in response to news Iran had shot down the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, which the Pentagon says was above international waters at the time.

"This country will not stand for it, that I can tell you," he repeated later at the White House.

But as the overnight incident whipped up fears of open conflict between the United States and its declared foe Iran, sending crude oil prices up more than six percent, President Trump moved swiftly to dial tensions back down, suggesting the drone may have been shot in error.

Mr Trump said: "I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth,

"I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it".

The president's mixed message left the world unsure what Washington's next move would be.

"You will find out," President Trump said, when asked about possible retaliation.

In Tehran, however, the message came loud and clear.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that parts of the drone had been recovered in Iranian territorial waters, as Tehran moved to bring the incident before the United Nations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

"We don't seek war, but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters," Mr Zarif said.

The Pentagon denounced the strike as an "unprovoked attack" in international air space, claiming the navy drone was some 34 kilometers from Iran when destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.

But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it brought the drone down as it was "violating Iranian air space" over the waters of Hormozgan province.

Mr Zarif provided coordinates to back the claim.

"At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace," Mr Zarif tweeted.

"It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25°59'43"N 57°02'25"E) near Kouh-e Mobarak

"We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down."

At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace. It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25°59'43"N 57°02'25"E) near Kouh-e Mobarak.



We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down. pic.twitter.com/pJ34Tysmsg — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) June 20, 2019

In a letter addressed to the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Iran protested against a "dangerous and provocative act by the US military forces against the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The drone downing came as Iran was already accused by Washington of carrying out explosions on oil tankers in the congested Hormuz area.

Tehran denies being behind the attacks but has frequently threatened to block the sea lanes used by shipping to move much of the world's oil exports.

The commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command, Sean Kido, said that a mine allegedly used in one of the attacks matched Iranian weaponry and that incriminating fingerprints had also been collected.

President Trump has repeatedly said he does not favor war with Iran unless it is to stop the country getting a nuclear weapon, something Iranian leaders insist they are not pursuing.

But critics of the Trump administration say his policy of "maximum pressure" , including crippling economic sanctions, abandonment of a complex international deal to regulate Iran's nuclear activities, and deployment of extra sea, air and land forces to the region, make war ever more likely.

In Washington, talk of war has become part of the already heated atmosphere as Donald Trump's reelection fight starts to gain traction.

A key Republican ally of Mr Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham, said the president's "options are running out."

Asked if he believed the countries were nearing conflict, he replied: "I think anybody would believe that we're one step closer."

"They shot down an American asset well within international waters trying to assess the situation. What are you supposed to do?"

One of President Trump's biggest opponents, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, warned that "there's no appetite for wanting to go to war in our country."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu blasted "Iranian aggression" and said "Israel stands by the United States."

But Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has close relations with Iran's leadership, said that US military retaliation against Iran "would be a disaster for the region."

Vladimir Putin with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R)

Donald Trump was elected in part on promises to end US involvement in wars in the Middle East, but the president has at the same time made clear his unquestioning support for Iran's big rivals in the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump's arrival in the White House, alongside veteran Mideast hawks like his national security adviser John Bolton, has seen a sharp deterioration in relations with Tehran.

Donald Trump began last May by abandoning and effectively wrecking a 2015 international agreement on bringing Iran in from the diplomatic cold in exchange for verified controls on its nuclear industry.

That has prompted Iran to threaten it will stop observing restrictions agreed to under the deal on enrichment of uranium.

The threat has been seen as an effort to pressure European governments that want to save the nuclear deal to push back against Washington.

The US State Department called that "extortion." </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Latest on developments in the Persian Gulf region amid rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. (all times local):

 

 2:20 p.m.

 

 Iran’s foreign ministry has warned the United States over violating Iranian airspace after the Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S drone earlier in the day.

 

 A ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, is quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency as saying that Iran cannot condone the “illegal trespassing and invading of the country’s skies by any kind of foreign flying object.”

 

 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it shot down the American drone over Iranian airspace, while U.S. officials say it happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 Mousavi expressed Iran’s “strong objection” and added that the “invaders will bear full responsibility.”





 

 12:45 p.m.

 

 Saudi Arabia says Yemen’s Houthi rebels have fired a rocket into the kingdom targeting a desalination plant, but that no one was wounded and the rocket caused no damage.

 

 The state-run Saudi Press Agency on Thursday reported the attack, quoting military spokesman Col. Turki al-Maliki. The attack took place late Wednesday night.

 

 The Iranian-backed Houthis through their Al-Masirah satellite channel claimed that they targeted a power plant in Jizan in Saudi Arabia.

 

 White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders earlier said President Donald Trump had been “briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

 

 It wasn’t immediately clear why the U.S. would brief Trump over the incident if it caused no damage.

 

 The attack comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran’s collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.





 10:40 a.m.

 

 The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says the shooting down of a U.S. drone has sent “a clear message” to America.

 

 Gen. Hossein Salami said also says that Iran does “not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war.”

 

 His speech was carried live on Iranian state television on Thursday, shortly after U.S. and Iranian officials acknowledged the shooting down of the drone.

 

 The Guard says it shot down the American drone over Iranian airspace, while U.S. officials told The Associated Press the downing happened over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.





 10:25 a.m.

 

 A U.S. official says that an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down a U.S. drone flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

 

 The official spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity as the information had yet to be cleared for release to the public.

 

 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday it shot down a U.S. drone amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington over its collapsing nuclear deal.

 

 It said the U.S. drone was flying in Iranian airspace, contradicting the U.S. official.

 

 The reported downing of the RQ-4 Global Hawk comes after the U.S. military previously alleged Iran fired a missile at another drone last week that responded to the attack on two oil tankers near the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. blames Iran for the attack on the ships, something Tehran denies. </s> US President Donald Trump reportedly approved a missile strike on Iran but changed his mind while the planes were in the air.

Trump allegedly made the decision following an intense meeting at the White House involving national security top brass. It was made in response to Iran shooting down a US done on Thursday. However, Trump was said to have backed down on the decision following advice from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, according to sources. At this stage, it is not yet known why the president reversed the action.

It comes just a day after Trump launched his reelection campaign in Florida. During a speech at the event, he warned that Iran had made 'a very big mistake' by shooting down the drone. When asked by a reporter if he planned a retaliatory strike against Iran, Trump said: "You'll soon find out". At a subsequent press conference, the 45th President of the United States again addressed the issue, saying that he did not believe Iran's actions were intentional.

The averted strike was in response to the downing of the surveillance RQ-4 Global Hawk which Iran says was flying in its airspace - a claim the US denied. Tensions have been rising between the two states since Trump's administration accused Tehran of attacking tankers in the Gulf last week. The Revolutionary Guard said: "It was shot down when it entered Iran's airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south." Brigadier General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, warned against any further aggression and claimed the drone's downing carried a "clear message" to Iran's arch-enemy - the US.

He added: "We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war." The US military said the drone was shot down 17 miles from Iran. Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military's Central Command, claimed no US aircraft were flying over Iran. He said: "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false. This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace." </s> (Hatha al-Youm | Iraq News )-US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook met SaudiArabia’s Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman in Riyadh on Friday,the minister tweeted.They discussed recent attacks in the region which the UnitedStates and Saudi Arabia blame on Iran and Iran denies being behind. PrinceKhalid affirmed Saudi support for the US campaign to pressure Tehran.According to the New York Times, President Donald Trumpapproved military strikes on Friday against Iran in retaliation for the downingof an unmanned $130-million surveillance drone, but pulled back from launchingthem.The Global Hawk drone was shot down by an Iraniansurface-to-air missile.The US says the unarmed drone was flying over internationalwaters but Iran says it was on a spy mission over its territorial waters.The United States and Saudi Arabia are among countries thathave blamed Iran for attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, a majortransit route for global oil supplies. </s> DUBAI (REUTERS) – Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday (June 21) that Teheran had received a message from US President Donald Trump through Oman overnight warning that a US attack on Iran was imminent.

They spoke shortly after the New York Times reported that Trump had approved military strikes against Iran on Friday in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone, but called off the attacks at the last minute.

“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Teheran about various issues...He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second Iranian official said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision...However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”

Iranian state television on Friday showed what it said were retrieved sections of the US military drone it brought down. Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, said on the programme that the debris was proof that the drone had been over Iranian territorial waters when it was shot down by the Guards.

The Fars news agency said on Friday Iran has told the United States via the Swiss ambassador that Washington will be responsible for the consequences of any military action against Iran.

Because Washington and Teheran have no formal diplomatic ties, the Swiss ambassador in Teheran represents American interests in the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Iran’s foreign ministry, which summoned the ambassador, had told the envoy that Iran was not pursuing war with the United States.

After weeks of rising tension amid a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, Iran said on Thursday it had shot down an unmanned US military surveillance drone, fanning fears of an overt military confrontation between the longtime adversaries.

The New Times quoted a senior administration official as saying, US warplanes took to the air and ships were put in position for a retaliatory attack only for an order to come to stand down, without any weapons being fired.

Targets had included Iranian radar and missile batteries, the paper cited senior administration officials involved in, or briefed on, the deliberations, as saying.

The strikes were set for early in the day to minimise risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, the Times added.

It was unclear if attacks on Iran might go ahead later, it added, nor was it known whether Trump had changed his mind or whether his administration had become concerned about logistics or strategy. </s> Washington (CNN) In the hours before the attack on the two tankers in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.

The missile missed the drone and fell into the water, the official said.

Prior to taking fire, the American MQ-9 Reaper drone observed Iranian vessels closing in on the tankers, the official added, though the source did not say whether the unmanned aircraft saw the boats conducting an actual attack.

Still, it is the first claim that the US has information of Iranian movements prior to the attack.

CNN has not seen any imagery from the US drones.

Iran has strenuously denied any involvement in the attack.

The same official also said in the days prior to the attack, a US Reaper drone was shot down in the Red Sea by what is believed to be an Iranian missile fired by Houthi rebels.

The Pentagon had tough words for Iran on Friday as the US continues to assert its claim that Tehran was responsible for the attack on the two oil tankers in international waters after releasing video footage its says shows an Iranian patrol boat removing an unexploded mine from one of the vessels' hulls.

"We're making sure that General McKenzie and the central command has the resources and the support that they need to conduct their missions," acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said, adding that the US continues to work on building an international consensus that Iran was behind the attack.

Trump says Iran 'did do it'

The United Kingdom released a statement Friday saying it is "almost certain" that a branch of the Iranian military -- the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) -- attacked two tankers.

The IRGC is an elite wing of the Iranian military that was established in the aftermath of the country's revolution in 1979. In April 2019, the US officially designated it as a foreign terrorist organization, a move which was rejected by authorities in Tehran.

No other state or non-state actor "could plausibly have been responsible," the statement added.

Iran does not appear to be backing off and continues to engage in provocative behavior, according to a US official, who told CNN on Friday that Iranian small boats are preventing tug boats from towing away one of the damaged tankers.

But the owner of the Front Altair tanker has said they have "no information" and "no details" about any type of obstruction around its vessel since the time of the attack, Frontline spokesperson Pat Adamson told CNN Saturday.

President Donald Trump seems convinced that Tehran was responsible.

"Iran did do it and you know they did it because you saw the boat," he said, appearing to refer to the images and video released by the Pentagon late Thursday.

In the video , a smaller boat is shown coming up to the side of the Japanese-owned tanker. An individual stands up on the bow of the boat and can be seen removing an object from the tanker's hull. The US says that object is likely an unexploded mine.

A senior diplomatic source of a US ally told CNN Friday, "It is a virtual certainty Iran was behind this latest attack. The video now nails it."

The source added that the goal of the response from the US government thus far is all about publicly exposing Iranian actions and intensifying maximum pressure.

After the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, it adopted a policy of maximum economic pressure and sent a carrier group to the region, the source said this "Iranian retaliation is designed to show they can disrupt, and push oil prices up."

The Trump administration predicted that the pressure from the United States would bring Iran to the negotiating table, but European leaders disagreed, believing it would empower the hardliners, the source continued.

Iran denies involvement

Iran has denied any involvement in the incident, with its foreign minister suggesting that the US was quick to make allegations "without a shred of evidence."

The attack could provide more fodder for Iran hawks within the US administration, whose recent Iran saber-rattling has frustrated Trump. One of them, national security adviser John Bolton, announced last month that the Pentagon was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to a "number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran.

The two tankers -- one carrying oil and the other transporting chemicals -- were attacked near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route that has been the focal point of regional tensions for decades. Roughly 30% of the world's sea-borne crude oil passes through the strategic choke point, making it a flashpoint for political and economic friction.

Jonathan Cohen, acting US ambassador to the United Nations, said Thursday that he echoed Pompeo's comments in a private meeting of the UN Security Council, describing the attack as "another example of Iran's destabilizing activities in the region."

The Iranian mission to the UN rejected the US' claim.

Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for the Iranian mission, tweeted a statement saying Iran "categorically rejects the US unfounded claim" that Iran is behind the attacks and "condemns it in the strongest possible terms."

He added that Iran "expresses concern" over the "suspicious incidents." And he called it "ironic" that the US, which withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is now calling Iran to come back for negotiations and diplomacy.

Speaking on Friday at a conference in Tajikistan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country was willing to further scale back its commitment to the JCPOA if it does not receive "the necessary response from other signatories."

"We still believe that making good on commitments by all the signatories could have a major role in preserving regional and global peace and security. Iran will unilaterally not be able to remain as the party adhering to the JCPOA. Other parties need to do their own share as regards the deal," he said.

This story and headline have been updated.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shoots down an American RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone after it allegedly violates Iranian airspace.