Iran shoots down US drone: Live updates - CNN

A US drone was shot down by Iranian forces on Thursday, in a move likely to escalate tensions between the two adversaries. The two nations vary in their accounts of the attack.

What the US has said: A US official told CNN that Iran shot down a US military drone in international airspace Thursday, over the Strait of Hormuz.

What Iran has said: A contradictory earlier report from Iran's state-run Press TV said the country's elite Revolutionary Guards fired on an "intruding American spy drone," downing it over the country's southern coastal province of Hormozga, inside Iranian airspace.

What sort of drone was involved? Press TV reported the drone was a US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk, while the US official said it was a MQ-4C Triton. Both are unmanned surveillance aircraft developed by weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman.

CNN has been unable to independently verify the details of the Iranian state media report.

Reuters quoted Cap. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, as saying "no US aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace" Thursday.

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2019-06-20 09:21:00Z
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Iran says it's 'ready for war' after US official confirms it shot down American drone - ABC News

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2019-06-20 08:40:00Z
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Iran claims to have shot down US spy drone - CNN

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it had shot down an "intruding American spy drone" after it entered into the country's territory Thursday, according to state-run Press TV.

A US official confirmed to CNN a drone had been shot down, but said the incident occurred in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most vital shipping routes.

Press TV reported the downed drone was a US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk, while the US official said it was a MQ-4C Triton. Both are unmanned surveillance aircraft developed by weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman.

The head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, said the shooting down of the drone had sent a warning to the US.

"The only way for our enemies to be safe is to respect our sovereignty, national security, and the national interests of the great Iranian nation," Salami said, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Press TV reported that Revolutionary Guards shot down the drone while it was flying over country's southern coastal province of Hormozga.

In comments likely to inflame tensions, Salami said that Iran does "not want war with any country, but we are completely, and totally, ready and prepared for war."

Reuters quoted Cap. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, as saying "no US aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace" Thursday.

Relations between the two adversaries have taken a dangerous turn this week, beginning with the Trump administration's decision Monday to deploy 1,000 additional troops and more military resources to the Middle East. The forces are being sent in response to what Washington called "hostile behavior by Iranian forces that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region."

US officials blame Iran for conducting attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US President himself last week accused Iran of being behind the provocation, telling Fox News: "It was them that did it."

Tehran has categorically denied the accusations, and President Hassan Rouhani said the country does not seek war but "is determined to show its hopefulness and vitality and defeat the enemy's plot."

Iran has previously been accused of targeting US drones.

In the hours before the attack on the two tankers earlier this month, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.

In 2014, the Iran's armed forces revealed what it claimed was a copy of a stealth American drone "commandeered" by Tehran in 2011.

Relations between Iran and the United States have deteriorated since May 2018, when Washington chose to leave the 2015 nuclear deal the Iranian regime negotiated with world powers and reimpose crippling sanctions on Iran's economy.

Trump and many conservatives in the US had long criticized the deal, which allowed Iran to stockpile limited amounts of enriched uranium and heavy water produced in that process, exporting any excess.

Doing so has become extremely difficult after the US revoked waivers that allowed Iran to export those excess stockpiles, effectively forcing Iran to halt enrichment or ignore the limits, which it is now doing.

After a year of waiting, Rouhani announced last month that it would reduce its "commitments to the deal," but not fully withdraw from it.

Iran then announced this week that it would resume nuclear enrichment activities, accelerating uranium enrichment to 3.7% -- above the 3.67% mandated by the nuclear deal. Enrichment at this level is enough to continue powering parts of the country's energy needs, but not enough to construct a nuclear bomb.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Daniel Allman contributed to this report.

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2019-06-20 08:20:00Z
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Iran claims to have shot down US spy drone - CNN

Iran's state-run Press TV said the US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk was shot down in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, near the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN cannot independently verify the details in the Iranian state media report.

Press TV quoted Cap. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, as saying "no US aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace" Thursday. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

The Trump administration said Monday it would send 1,000 additional troops and more military resources to the Middle East in response to what Washington called "hostile behavior by Iranian forces that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region."

US officials blame Iran for conducting attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US President himself last week accused Iran of being behind the provocation, telling Fox News: "It was them that did it."

Tehran has categorically denied the accusations, and President Hassan Rouhani said the country does not seek war but "is determined to show its hopefulness and vitality and defeat the enemy's plot."

Iran has previously been accused of targeting US drones.

In the hours before the attack on the two tankers earlier this month, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.

In 2014, the Iran's armed forces revealed what it claimed was a copy of a stealth American drone "commandeered" by Tehran in 2011.

Northrop Grumman, the weapons manufacturer that builds the RQ-4 Global Hawk, describes the aircraft as a "premier provider of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information."

It can fly more than 30 hours at a time at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet (about 18,000 meters) and with a range of 12,300 nautical miles.

Since joining the US Air Force fleet in 2001, the Gobal Hawk has amassed more than 250,000 flight hours in support of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

Relations between Iran and the United States have deteriorated since May 2018, when Washington chose to leave the 2015 nuclear deal the Iranian regime negotiated with world powers and reimpose crippling sanctions on Iran's economy.

Trump and many conservatives in the US had long criticized the deal, which allowed Iran to stockpile limited amounts of enriched uranium and heavy water produced in that process, exporting any excess.

Doing so has become extremely difficult after the US revoked waivers that allowed Iran to export those excess stockpiles, effectively forcing Iran to halt enrichment or ignore the limits, which it is now doing.

After a year of waiting, Rouhani announced last month that it would reduce its "commitments to the deal," but not fully withdraw from it.

Iran then announced this week that it would resume nuclear enrichment activities, accelerating uranium enrichment to 3.7% -- above the 3.67% mandated by the nuclear deal. Enrichment at this level is enough to continue powering parts of the country's energy needs, but not enough to construct a nuclear bomb.

CNN's Daniel Allman contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/middleeast/iran-drone-claim-hnk-intl/index.html

2019-06-20 06:54:00Z
52780317816762

Iran claims to have shot down US spy drone - CNN

Iran's state-run Press TV said the US-made RQ-4 Global Hawk was shot down in the country's southern coastal province of Hormozgan, near the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN cannot independently verify the details in the Iranian state media report.

Press TV quoted Cap. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command, as saying "no US aircraft were operating in Iranian airspace" Thursday. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

The Trump administration said Monday it would send 1,000 additional troops and more military resources to the Middle East in response to what Washington called "hostile behavior by Iranian forces that threaten United States personnel and interests across the region."

US officials blame Iran for conducting attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and the US President himself last week accused Iran of being behind the provocation, telling Fox News: "It was them that did it."

Tehran has categorically denied the accusations, and President Hassan Rouhani said the country does not seek war but "is determined to show its hopefulness and vitality and defeat the enemy's plot."

Iran has previously been accused of targeting US drones.

In the hours before the attack on the two tankers earlier this month, the Iranians spotted a US drone flying overhead and launched a surface-to-air missile at the unmanned aircraft, a US official told CNN.

In 2014, the Iran's armed forces revealed what it claimed was a copy of a stealth American drone "commandeered" by Tehran in 2011.

Northrop Grumman, the weapons manufacturer that builds the RQ-4 Global Hawk, describes the aircraft as a "premier provider of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information."

It can fly more than 30 hours at a time at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet (about 18,000 meters) and with a range of 12,300 nautical miles.

Since joining the US Air Force fleet in 2001, the Gobal Hawk has amassed more than 250,000 flight hours in support of military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

Relations between Iran and the United States have deteriorated since May 2018, when Washington chose to leave the 2015 nuclear deal the Iranian regime negotiated with world powers and reimpose crippling sanctions on Iran's economy.

Trump and many conservatives in the US had long criticized the deal, which allowed Iran to stockpile limited amounts of enriched uranium and heavy water produced in that process, exporting any excess.

Doing so has become extremely difficult after the US revoked waivers that allowed Iran to export those excess stockpiles, effectively forcing Iran to halt enrichment or ignore the limits, which it is now doing.

After a year of waiting, Rouhani announced last month that it would reduce its "commitments to the deal," but not fully withdraw from it.

Iran then announced this week that it would resume nuclear enrichment activities, accelerating uranium enrichment to 3.7% -- above the 3.67% mandated by the nuclear deal. Enrichment at this level is enough to continue powering parts of the country's energy needs, but not enough to construct a nuclear bomb.

CNN's Daniel Allman contributed to this report.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/middleeast/iran-drone-claim-hnk-intl/index.html

2019-06-20 06:39:00Z
52780317816762

Saudi Plant Struck by Missile, Apparently From Yemen - The Wall Street Journal

It wasn’t clear if there were any casualties in the attack on the Red Sea facility, a senior U.S. official said. An aerial view of the Red Sea coast in December. Photo: Eric Lafforgue/Corbis/Getty Images

By

Gordon Lubold

Gordon Lubold
The Wall Street Journal
• Biography
• @glubold
• gordon.lubold@wsj.com

Updated June 19, 2019 11:08 pm ET

A Saudi desalination plant was struck by a missile that appeared to come from within Yemen, according to a senior U.S. official.

It wasn’t clear if there were any casualties in the attack on the Red Sea facility, the official said.

Senior officials from a range of U.S. government agencies were called back to the White House to meet Wednesday evening, the official said.

“The President has been briefed on the reports of a missile strike in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement late Wednesday. “We are closely monitoring the situation and continuing to consult with our partners and allies.”

Saudi Arabia has led a military intervention into a bloody, prolonged civil war in neighboring Yemen, and has been in conflict with Yemen’s Houthi insurgency, which is believed to be backed by Iran.

Write to Gordon Lubold at Gordon.Lubold@wsj.com

Appeared in the June 20, 2019, print edition as 'Missile Hits Plant In Saudi Arabia.'

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2019-06-20 03:08:00Z
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MH17 crash investigators say four suspects face murder charges - CNN

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) said it would issue national and international arrest warrants for the four suspects. Three Russians, Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Oleg Pulatov, were named, along with Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko.

The flight was on its way from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in July 2014, when it was shot out of the sky over territory held by pro-Russian separatists.

According to investigators, Girkin is a former colonel of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Dubinskiy was employed by Russia's military intelligence agency GRU and Pulatov was a former soldier of the Russian special forces, Spetsnaz-GRU.

Ukraine's Kharchenko had no military background, but is believed to have led a combat unit in Donetwsk in July 2014.

While the suspects are not accused of firing the missile at MH17, they are "just as punishable as the person who committed the crime," Dutch prosecutor Fred Westerbeke said.

All four are charged with "causing the crash of MH17, leading to the death of all the people on board ... and murdering 298 passengers of flight MH17," Westerbeke said.

He added that they are suspected of obtaining the Buk missile "with the goal to shoot a plane."

The trial of the four men will take place on March 9, 2020 at the Schiphol Judicial Complex in Badhoevedorp, investigators said, adding that the accused will be tried in absentia if necessary.

Investigators said they would not ask for the suspects to be extradited because the Russian and Ukrainian constitutions prohibit extraditing nationals. However added that they would ask Russia to cooperate with the investigation, and both countries to question the suspects about the charges.

During a Q&A following the briefing on Wednesday, Ukraine said it would try to arrest Kharchenko.

Later on Wednesday Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the findings were "absolutely unfounded accusations," and that the JIT press conference was aimed at "discrediting" Russia.

"No concrete evidence this time was shown to back up such unlawful statements," the MFA said in a statement posted online. It also disputed that Russia has refused to fully cooperate with the investigation.

"We strongly reject such accusations," the statement read. "From the first day of the tragedy, the Russian Federation was highly interested in establishing the truth and is ready to provide all-round assistance to the investigation."

Meanwhile Girkin -- one of the suspects who acted as defense minister for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic -- said separatists in eastern Ukraine were not responsible for downing the Boeing aircraft, adding that investigators had not contacted him about the case.

"The (separatist) rebels did not down the Boeing, and I cannot comment further or clarify," he told Russia's Business FM radio.

Asked if the JIT had contacted him -- which is made up of five countries: Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine -- Girkin said, "No, they have not contacted me."

Investigators announced in 2018 that the flight had been brought down by a missile fired from a launcher belonging to Russia's 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade. Russia has repeatedly denied involvement in the incident, suggesting instead that Ukrainian forces shot down the plane.

CNN's Tomas Etzler, Nathan Hodge, Nick Paton Walsh, Richard Allen Green and Duarte Mendonca contributed reporting.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/19/europe/malaysia-airlines-flight-17-suspects-intl/index.html

2019-06-19 16:11:00Z
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