Trump says he ‘decided not to kill a lot of Iranians’ after drone shootdown

President Trump touted his decision to call off a strike against Iran in an interview on Fox Business Network Wednesday morning. The aborted strike came after the U.S. military accused Iran of shooting down an American drone over international waters on June 20.

Trump called off the operation minutes before it was set to begin because he was told it would kill 150 Iranians and felt that was not a proportionate response. The president discussed his thinking in the interview.

“They shot down our drone. I decided not to kill a lot of Iranians. I know a lot of Iranians. I like Iranians so much, and that plays into your decision too,” Trump said, adding, “I mean, they’re human beings. They’re people. I didn’t want to kill 150 people when they shot down an unmanned drone, so I didn’t do that.”

The shootdown of the drone came amid steadily escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran over that country’s nuclear program. Iran’s government said the drone was over its airspace. Some international observers and even U.S. officials have cast doubt on the claim the drone was over international waters. Last May, Trump pulled out of the multilateral nuclear accord with Iran that was crafted by the administration of President Barack Obama. Since then, Iran has said it will step up uranium production, and the U.S. has increased its military presence in the region.

The Trump administration, which has said it will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, has also accused Tehran of being responsible for recent attacks on commercial ships in the region.

Trump brought up the aborted strike when Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo asked him point-blank, “Are we going to have a war with Iran, Mr. President?” Read more

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