US Military: We Downed Two Iranian Drones Last Week

A US Navy ship “destroyed” a second Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz last week after it “threatened” the vessel, the US military said on Tuesday. “This was a defensive action by the USS Boxer in response to aggressive interactions by two Iranian [unmanned aerial system, or UAS] platforms in international waters,” Lt.-Col. Earl Brown, a Central Command spokesman, said. “We observed one UAS crash into the water but did not observe a splash for the other,” Brown added, clarifying that there were two separate incidents during the same transit through the channel. Earlier on Tuesday, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, told CBS News in an interview that the vessel “may” have brought down the second drone. Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami denied that any drone had been downed, Iran’s official state news agency ISNA quoted him as saying on Wednesday. Tensions in the Gulf are high as Washington blames Tehran for several attacks against oil tankers belonging to American allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Islamic Republic seized a British-flagged ship, the Stena Impero, in the strait on Friday, leading the United Kingdom to call for a European naval mission to the region to ensure safe transit.