A US MQ-9 drone was shot down on Tuesday over northern Yemen, and while the indications are this was a Yemen thing, US officials are wasting no time in trying to make it all about Iran, accusing Iran of being behind the whole thing.



US officials are saying that Iran must have made the missile that shot down the drone, a ground-to-air missile that was fired by Yemen’s Houthi movement against their drone. Officials are promising more investigations.



Which probably doesn’t mean actual investigations. Blaming Iran is an end unto itself, and any evidence can only throw that into doubt, particularly when the Houthis are denying any Iranian involvement, and saying they made the missiles “locally” within Yemen.



There is no apparent evidence of Iranian involvement in the first place, beyond blaming Iran being convenient for the US, and past Saudi attempts to link the Houthis to Iran to try to get international support for the war.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz