According to US defence officials, the Iranian drone was brought down by counter-drone jamming equipment, which was operated by US marines aboard the USS Boxer.
US Secretary of State (Photo: IANS)
During his speech in a Florida, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said on Monday that “the US has imposed a sanction on a Chinese state-owned company for allegedly violating the restrictions imposed on the purchase of Iranian oil”.
Pompeo further said that as part of a “maximum pressure campaign”, the US was imposing sanctions against the Chinese company Zhuhai Zhenrong and its Chief Executive Youmin Li, while accusing them of violating US law by accepting crude oil from Iran.
“We can’t tolerate more money going to the ayatollah…,” he said during a speech at the 120th Annual Convention of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Orlando earlier on Monday.
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His announcement marks an escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran after several attacks on ships, the shooting down of a US drone and the seizure by Iranian forces of a British tanker in the Persian Gulf last week.
According to US defence officials, the Iranian drone was brought down by counter-drone jamming equipment, which was operated by US marines aboard the USS Boxer.
US President Donald Trump said that he was seeing it increasingly difficult to reach an agreement with Iran that would make it possible to lower the escalation of tension between the two countries because, according to him, Tehran “disrespected” Washington.
“They disrespected the US. They should not have done that. (…) Frankly, it is getting harder for me to want to make a deal with Iran (…) It could go either way very easily. And I am okay either way it goes,” Trump said at the beginning of his talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House on Monday.
The President made these statements shortly after accusing Iran on Twitter of lying about having arrested 17 Iranian citizens working for the Central Intelligence Agency.
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