Donald Trump said Friday that he axed plans to bomb Iran at the 11th hour over fears such a strike would kill 150 people (Picture: Barcroft)
Donald Trump has announced that he halted a planned strike on Iran at the last minute after being told it would kill 150 people.
In tweets posted Friday, the President of the United States wrote: ‘On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters.
‘We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die.
‘150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.
‘I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world.
Iranian officials display the wreckage of the $150m US surveillance drone it shot down in the early hours of Thursday (Picture: EPA)
‘Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!’
Trump begun his explanation by criticizing his predecessor Barack Obama’s 2015 deal with Iran.
That saw sanctions on the country’s hardline Islamic government lifted in return for assurances that they would not pursue a nuclear weapons program.
Tensions between the US and Iran have mounted since President Trump pulled out of that deal in 2018.
On Thursday morning, an Iranian surface-to-air missile shot down an unarmed US surveillance drone.
Iranian President Hassah Rouhani. Tensions between his regime and the US have escalated since Donald Trump pulled out of a deal with Iran last year (Picture: EPA)
The US insists the surveillance aircraft was in international waters, while Iran claims it breached its borders.
That prompted Trump to tell reporters ‘You’ll see’ when asked if he had plans to attack Iran during a brief press conference Thursday.
Last week, two oil tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, which runs along the Iranian coast, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported each day.
Iran denied it was behind the attack, with the US later sharing photographs it says proves Iran was lying.
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