Iran-Trump newest: US army shoots down ‘aggressive’ Iranian drone | EUROtoday

Iran is demanding that talks with the US this week be held in Oman not Turkey, and that the scope be narrowed to two-way talks on nuclear points solely, a regional supply mentioned on Tuesday, casting doubt on whether or not the assembly will go forward as deliberate.

Iran’s effort to alter the venue and agenda for the talks, presently scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, got here amid heightened tensions because the US builds up forces within the Middle East.

Regional gamers have pushed for decision of a standoff that has led to mutual threats of air strikes.

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian has given the go-ahead for talks with the US in Turkey this week, however warned towards any additional threats by the Trump administration.

Turkey will host the discussions, geared toward de-escalating tensions following Washington’s threats of army motion in response to Tehran’s bloody crackdown of nationwide protests early this yr.

The US army has been shifting a rising variety of property into the area over the previous a number of weeks, together with the Lincoln and several other destroyers, which arrived final week.

The provider strike group, which introduced roughly 5,700 further service members, joined three destroyers and three littoral fight ships that have been already within the area.

Analysts of flight-tracking information even have seen dozens of US army cargo planes heading to the area.The exercise is much like final yr when the US moved in air defence {hardware}, like a Patriot missile system, in anticipation of an Iranian counterattack following the US bombing three key nuclear websites. Iran launched greater than a dozen missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar days after the strikes.

The US has a number of bases within the Middle East, together with Al Udeid, which hosts hundreds of American troops and is the ahead headquarters for US Central Command.

Three pairs of Iranian gunboats approached a US -flagged tanker within the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman, maritime sources and a safety consultancy mentioned on Tuesday.

The tanker, the Stena Imperative, “did not enter Iranian internal territorial waters” and was escorted by a US warship, maritime danger administration group Vanguard mentioned.

Captain Hawkins mentioned: “Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.

“The scenario de-escalated because of this, and the US-flagged tanker is continuing safely,” Hawkins added.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said that talks ‍with Iran later ⁠this week are still scheduled to take place.

It comes diplomats are hoping to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States.

President Donald Trump has already warned that with US warships heading toward Iran, “unhealthy issues” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.

An Iranian Shahed-139 drone flew towards the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, stationed in the Arabian Sea, “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, the US military said.

“An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to guard the plane provider and personnel on board,” said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military’s Central Command.

The Independent has heard that the US has shot down an Iranian drone over the Arabian Sea.

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