By Agencies
Earlier in the day, Trump announced that a military action against Tehran was still on the table after Iran downed a US drone. The statement follows a separate announcement from the president, in which he stated that another round of anti-Iran sanctions is expected to be implemented as a means of preventing Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Trump turned to Twitter to announce that new sanctions against Iran would be imposed on 24 June.
The US president again criticized what he described as the “terrible Obama plan”, referring to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
​On Saturday Trump dubbed his plan of actions “Let’s make Iran great again,” while speaking to journalists outside the White House. Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated following Thursday’s shootdown of a US spy drone that Iran claimed was operating it its aerial space.
US Air Forces Central Command Commander Joseph Guastella told reporters on Thursday that Tehran’s claims regarding an American RQ-4 drone were absolutely wrong given the unmanned aircraft never violated Iranian air space.
IRGC Commander-in-Chief, Major General Hossein Salami, said on Thursday that the downing of the drone was a “clear message” to Washington that Tehran would “react strongly” to any aggression.
CENTCOM, in their turn, said the downing of the drone was an attempt to disrupt US ability to monitor the area following recent threats to international shipping and free flow of commerce. After the incident both sides released maps of the drone’s alleged flight path. While the map from Tehran showed that the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was in Iranian airspace, the US map indicated that it was in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
