Published 20:29 IST, June 23rd 2019
Iran Foreign Minister shares evidence of US drone encroaching airspace, accuses 'B-Team' of almost trapping Donald Trump into war
In a major development in the rising tensions between Iran and US, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, on Sunday has shared evidence of the US spy drone encroaching Iranian airspace and the speedboat purchased to attribute the Japanese ship attacks on Iran
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In a major development in the rising tensions between Iran and US, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, on Sunday has shared evidence of the US spy drone encroaching Iranian airspace and the speedboat purchased to attribute the Japanese ship attacks on Iran, saying the evidence shows that the B-Team alluding to Bolton, Bin Salman, Bin Zayed, and Bibi, was moments away from trapping US President Donald Trump into war.
Earlier on Saturday, US had narrowly avoided a first step in triggering another war in the 'Middle-East' when Trump quickly revoked airstrikes targeting radar stations and missile facilities in Iran, which would have almost certainly have resulted in Iranian deaths, as reported by the New York Times.
Trump had immediately tweeted denying his revoke, saying he just stopped the attack from going forward.
While the tensions between the two nations have been high since May 2018 when Trump pulled out of the crucial Iran nuclear-deal, in the last ten days there has been an acute turn escalating the apprehensions of a conceivable military confrontation between the two.
On June 13, two commercial oil tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, leading to soaring oil prices. Out of the two tankers, one Norwegian owned Front Altair, and the second, Kokuka Courageous was owned by Japan. This was the second attack on commercial tankers, after striking four tankers back in May 2019.
Within a day, the US state secretary accused Iran of the attack and backed it up with a grainy video of the incident. However, Iran retaliating to the claim called it 'ridiculous and dangerous'. On the same day, sending a strong message to Iran, Washington deployed another 1000 military forces in the Middle East.
On June 20, the friction between the two nations intensified after Iranian forces shot down a US surveillance drone. Both countries confirmed the incident.
However, Tehran maintained that military equipment violated their airspace and that they had warned the US twice before shooting down, while the US stood on the ground by saying that the drone was above international waters, and Trump called it a 'very bad mistake' by Iran.
20:14 IST, June 23rd 2019