Donald Trump said the Navy amphibious assault ship USS Boxer took down and “destroyed” an Iranian drone that was “approximately 1,000 yards” from the vessel.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday afternoon, the president called on other nations to defend against Iranian attempts to “disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce” and to “protect their ships as they go through the [Strait of Hormuz]”.
He described the USS Boxer as having taken “defensive action” after the drone ignored repeated calls to stand down.
The drone was threatening the safety of the US warship and its crew, the president said.
The latest tense development arrived after Iran recently shot down a US drone it said was flying over its territory.
The US also demanded Iran immediately release a vessel it seized in the Gulf on Thursday shortly before the USS Boxer struck down the drone.
“The United States strongly condemns the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with safe passage in and around the Strait of Hormuz,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement sent to Reuters.
Iran said it had seized the ship because it was smuggling oil.
“We do this (inspecting ships) every day,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted saying on Iran’s Press TV.
“It was a small ship used to smuggle one million litres — not one million barrels — of crude oil,” he reportedly added.
Mr Trump tweeted video of his announcement later Thursday afternoon, writing, “I want to apprise everyone of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz today.”
“The BOXER took defensive action against an Iranian drone,” he added.
Relations between Iran and the US have worsened since Mr Trump last year withdrew Washington from the 2015 multi-party Iran Nuclear Deal that was designed to monitor Tehran’s nuclear industry, while readmitting it to international markets and lifting sanctions.
When Mr Trump went ahead and unilaterally pulled the US out, something he had vowed to do during the presidential campaign, he also reimposed a series of stringent sanctions that have targeted Iran’s oil industry and made it difficult for it to trade with other nations.
