Flashbacks of USA military failures against Iran ep. 3 - the $200 million drone shootdown

Episode 3 of the series.

by mid-2019, the Trump administration had unilaterally withdrawn from the JCPOA agreement, and had been exerting what it called a 'maximum pressure' campaign against Iran with more economic sanctions. On top of this, Trump, in his usual bellicose manner, had been threatening Iran both verbally and on Twitter.

The U.S. military was simultaneously conducting regular spy missions on Iran in the Area of the Persian Gulf. On June 19th, An American RQ-4 was downed with an indigenously built Khordad surface to air missile complex (based on the Russian BUK-M3). The RQ-4 is America's most advanced and highest flying reconnaissance drone.

The U.S. military, along with the American press claimed that the drone was shot down in international waters. This was quickly proven to be untrue as Iran was quickly lifted a large amount of the remains of the RQ-4 out of its territorial waters unmolested by U.S. Navy ships which would have certainly claimed it if it were in international waters. To this day, the American military and media still stick to this story despite its implausibility.

Once again, President Trump issued many verbal threats of war after the incident, but in the end he stated the the shoot down was "probaly a mistake." and despite all of his apparent furor in the weeks and months prior, he seemed to completely dismiss the incident overnight as if nothing had happened.

The most important part of this incident that is often overlooked is that a US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft was flying near the drone, and Iran chose not to destroy it. This was clearly meant to serve as a warning.