USS Boxer Destroys Iranian Drone After Vehicle Approached In A ‘Provocative And Hostile Manner’ As Ship Was Traveling Through The Strait Of Hormuz And Took Defensive Action

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. Navy has destroyed a drone controlled by Iran, calling the unmanned vehicle’s approach of an American ship a ‘provocative and hostile’ act.

Just this morning we told you about 500 troops being sent to Saudi Arabia to shore up defenses in the Middle East against an Iranian attack, and tonight we bring you news of the USS Boxer shooting down a hostile Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is the only shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean, making it a vitally important means to transport gas and oil. Twenty percent of all the oil consumed anywhere in the world passes through this area, and as such, remains a hotly-contested area of commerce as well as militarily significant.

USS Boxer was traveling through the Strait of Hormuz when an Iranian drone closed on its position in international waters

FROM DAILY MAIL UK: The conflict came in the Strait of Hormuz, the only shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean. About one-fifth of the world’s oil passes through it. Trump said at the White House that the USS Boxer, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, ‘took defensive action’ after the drone strayed to within 1,000 yards.

‘The drone was immediately destroyed,’ he said, after its operators ignored ‘multiple calls to stand down.’

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman said the Boxer was ‘conducting a planned inbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz.’ A Defense Department official said electronic signal-jamming was employed to bring the drone down.

The president called the incident ‘the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters.’  Iran’s military recently shot down a U.S. drone that it said was flying in Iranian airspace, firing a strike with a surface-to-air missile.

President Trump called off a planned airstrike at the last moment, saying later that retaliating would have killed approximately 150 people on the ground.  Trump made his announcement Thursday at the beginning of a White House ceremony to mark the return of an American flag that flew from the stern of an American ship in the D-Day invasion.

An hour earlier he had told reporters at the end of a photo-op with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that ‘a big event just happened in Iran. A big event.’ The drone was downed in international waters, according to a Pentagon official.

The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington, according to a Reuters report this week. The U.S. believes Iran-linked militias in Iraq have recently increased their surveillance of American troops and bases in the country by using off-the-shelf, commercially available drones.

The disclosure comes at a time of heightened tensions with Iran and underscores the many ways in which Tehran and the forces it backs are increasingly relying on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in places like Yemen, Syria, the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq.

Beyond surveillance, Iranian drones can drop munitions and even carry out ‘a kamikaze flight where they load it up with explosives and fly it into something’, according to a U.S. official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Iran now flies two or three drones over Gulf waters every day, the U.S. official estimated, making it a core part of Tehran’s effort to monitor the Strait of Hormuz. The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of carrying out attacks against six oil tankers near the Strait in the past two months, a claim Tehran has denied.

‘We have seen an uptick in drone activity in Iraq near our bases and facilities,’ the official said. ‘Certainly the drones that we have seen are more of the commercial off-the-shelf variant. So they’re obviously a deniable type UAV-activity in Iraq.’ READ MORE

President Trump: U.S. Navy Ship Shot Down Iranian Drone Over Strait Of Hormuz

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our GoFundMe page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. Even all the way to South Africa. We even restarted our weekly radio Bible study on Sunday nights again, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. If every one of the 12,832 people on our daily mailing list gave $4.50, we would reach our goal immediately. If every one of our 151,781 followers on Facebook gave $1.00 each, we would reach 300% of our goal. The same goes for our 14,000 followers on Twitter. But sadly, many will not give, so we need the ones who can and who will give to be generous. As generous as possible.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our GoFundMe page

The post USS Boxer Destroys Iranian Drone After Vehicle Approached In A ‘Provocative And Hostile Manner’ As Ship Was Traveling Through The Strait Of Hormuz And Took Defensive Action appeared first on Now The End Begins.