June 21, 2019

Donald Trump has stopped short of escalating the worsening standoff with Iran in the Persian Gulf, suggesting that the shooting down of a US drone could have been carried out by a “loose and stupid” Iranian officer without authorisation from Tehran, and emphasising that the aircraft was unmanned.

After meeting with his top national security officials to discuss Wednesday night’s downing of a Global Hawk spy drone, the president declared: “I would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down.

“I find it hard to believe it was intentional if you want to know the truth. I think it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it,” Trump told journalists. “It was a very foolish move.”

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/iran-us-drone-attack-trump-response