Trump approved strikes on Iran but pulled back: Reports

Trump approved strikes on Iran but pulled back: Reports

US President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Thursday against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching the attacks, media reports in the United States say. Citing senior White House officials, The New York Times reported that an operation sanctioned by Trump to launch attacks on a "handful of Iranian targets", including radar and missile batteries, was "in its early stages" on Thursday evening when the US leader changed tack and called it off. Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles were fired, when the order to stand down came, NYT cited one senior administration official as saying. The Washington Post and ABC news also reported the developments, citing unnamed White House officials and other sources said to be familiar with the matter. The White House has yet to comment on the reports. 'Catastrophic clash' The reports came just hours after Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had shot down an unmanned US aircraft after it flew into Iranian airspace. US officials later said the drone, which was allegedly struck by a surface-to-air missile, was in international territory at the time it was brought down. Trump, for his part, accused Iran of making a "very big mistake" over the incident but also suggested the move may have been unintentional. Source_ #Al_Jazira(الجزیرہ) #GM*