The wreckage of the shot down American drone has been recovered from Iranian territorial waters, says the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic. According to Tehran, the drone was launched from the UAE. The Pentagon insists that the drone didn't violate Iranian airspace.
Evgeny Poddubny will share the arguments of both sides.
It's the first RQ-14 that got shot down due to hostile fire since the US military adopted the strategic drone, which costs about two hundred million dollars. It was destroyed by an Iranian-made anti-aircraft system. A new provocation has occurred in the region. The advocates of this heated confrontation got more than this aircraft's weight is worth. The US president is being resolutely mysterious in his public statements. It feels like Donald Trump doesn't really know what to do at this point but realizes that he has to do something.
Recently, the US military couldn't decide whether it should admit losing the drone. It did. Later, it was unsure about specifying the model. In the end, they confirmed Iran's claim. It was a Global Hawk. It even released the video of the Hawk going down, though much later. It appears the video was taken by another drone. However, the first footage was provided by experts from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They quickly released the video of the launch of the missile that hit the target. In addition to that, they released the flight path of the drone. It demonstrated that the flight of the Global Hawk ended up in Iranian airspace. The Central Committee claims there was no violation.
Joseph Guastella, US Air Force: "This attack is an attempt to disrupt our ability to control the area after the recent threats to global ship traffic and free trade".
The head of the White House released a brief tweet. "Iran made a very big mistake!" In a follow-up TV interview, Trump was elusive and emotional when asked about America's response.
Donald Trump, President of USA: "You'll find out. You'll find out. Obviously, we won't talk much about it. But you'll find out".
The Prime Minister of Israel took a tougher stance.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel: "In the last 24 hours, Iran got more aggressive against the United States, against all of us. I repeat my call on all peaceful countries: Support the US and its effort to stop Iran's aggression."
Iran welcomed General Salami's report on the Global Hawk being shot down with a round of applause.
Hossein Salami, Deputy Commander of IRGC: "We don't intend to start a war with anybody. But we're ready for war".
America and its allies have repeatedly attacked government forces operating in Syria. Some of these attacks resulted in casualties. The collective West doesn't believe that this is anything extraordinary. In this case, Iran shot down an American reconnaissance drone flying in their airspace. Western propaganda is ready to present it as an act of aggression.
This plays into the hands of those that say that Donald Trump needs his own major war.
Evgeny Poddubny, Vladislav Dodonov, and Dmitry Maslennikov, Vesti, the North African and Middle Eastern Office, the Persian Gulf.
