The escalation of tensions comes more than a year after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reapplied heavy economic and diplomatic pressure against the country. The administration says the “maximum pressure” campaign is designed to draw Iran back to negotiate a new, tougher deal, which Iran has so far rejected.
Have you signed your Selective Service Card?
It may work for “The Art of the Deal“, however, the effect in diplomacy is highly dubious.
Here is a look at the tense standoff from Iran’s standpoint.
Why did Iran shoot down a U.S. drone?
Last Thursday, Iranian forces shot down a U.S. unmanned aircraft with a surface-to-air missile over the Strait of Hormuz, a stretch of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Iran claimed the drone had entered Iranian airspace.
Washington denied that and released images that U.S. officials said showed the drone’s flight path appearing to be in international waters close to Iran.
Iranian officials then held a news conference and displayed what they said were pieces of drone wreckage collected in Iran’s territorial waters.
The shootdown was the most dramatic moment in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. Trump said the military was about to strike Iranian targets on Thursday in retaliation for the drone shootdown but he called off the strike.