The United States has warned Iran not to underestimate its resolve as an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander said he feared that war in the Gulf region could quickly spiral “out of control.”
US National Security Adviser John Bolton told Iran that it should not “mistake US prudence and discretion for weakness” after President Donald Trump called off strikes against Iranian targets on Friday.
“No one has granted them a hunting licence in the Middle East,” Bolton said in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Trump said he decided against the strikes because he was told that 150 people would die in the attacks and this would not be a “proportionate” response to Iran’s downing of an unmanned US spy drone earlier this week.
Tehran, which insists the drone violated its airspace, said it would take legal action against the United States and present “incontrovertible evidence” to the United Nations that the drone was indeed over Iranian territory.
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif published additional coordinates and maps on Twitter that purported to show that the drone was in Iranian airspace before being shot down by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).
“There can be no doubt about where the vessel was when it was brought down,” Zarif said.
The US insists the aircraft was downed over international waters in the cramped Strait of Hormuz, a key energy shipping route.
Read the article in The West Australian (AAP).