WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd June, 2019) President Donald Trump on Friday said that the US military was ready to strike targets in Iran in response to the downing of a US Navy drone, but added that he called off the attacks at the last minute because they were not proportionate.
"We were cocked [and] loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights [sic] when I asked, how many will die," Trump said. "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."
Trump said in a separate tweet that he is no hurry to respond to the attack, adding that the US military is rebuilt and ready to go.
US Senator Ed Markey in a statement on Friday said that Congress needs answers on the White House's legal reasoning behind this action.
"Calling off these strikes was the right outcome, but America is only in this situation with Iran because President Trump and his war cabinet have no strategy for dealing with the real threats Tehran poses to American interests," Markey said. "I urge [Senate] Leader [Mitch] McConnell to bring to a vote next week the amendment that requires Congressional approval of any funding for a conflict in Iran."
The US president also said the current US economic sanctions on Iran are working and that the United States added more on Thursday night.
The US Treasury Department, however, has not yet announced any new sanctions against Iran.
On Thursday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps said that they shot down the US surveillance drone for violating Iran's airspace, an assertion denied by Washington.
Earlier, Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres seen by Sputnik that Tehran urges the international community to call on the United States to end its unlawful and destabilizing measures in the Persian Gulf.
Trump initially said Iran made "a very big mistake," but later told reporters he doubted the downing of the drone was intentional. Some US lawmakers, however, have called for taking action against Iran over the incident.
