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VOA’s national security correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.

The United States is set to introduce new sanctions against Iran on Monday, seeking to put additional pressure on the country’s economy in order to extract changes in behavior from its government.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the new measures “significant,” but declined to give specific details to reporters ahead of the official announcement.

He spoke just before embarking on a trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to continue the Trump administration’s effort to build a coalition of allies to counter Iran.  Pompeo met Monday with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The world should know that we will continue to make sure it’s understood that this effort that we’ve engaged in to deny Iran the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system, to built out their missile program, we are going to deny them the resources they need to do that thereby keeping American interests and American people safe all around the world,” Pompeo said.

Iran has denied working on nuclear weapons and signed an agreement in 2015 with the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany to allay those concerns by limited its nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.

But U.S.-Iran relations have deteriorated under President Donald Trump’s tenure, particularly since his decision last year to withdraw from the nuclear deal and put in place new economic sanctions.

Trump objected to the deal as being too weak and not including limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Iran has defended its missile work as legal and necessary for its defense.  And it has sought support from the remaining signatories to the 2015 agreement to provide the economic relief it desires, especially with its key oil program as the U.S. has tightened sanctions in an attempt to cut off Iranian oil exports.

Pompeo said the new sanctions Monday “will be a further effort to ensure that their capacity not only to grow their economy but to evade sanctions becomes more and more difficult, and it will be an important addition to our capacity to enforce sanctions against Iran to ultimately achieve the objective that we’ve laid out.”

Trump said in a series of tweets Saturday about the sanctions that he looks forward to the day when “sanctions come off Iran, and they become a productive and prosperous national again — The sooner the better!”

He also said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that he is “not looking for war” with Iran and is willing to negotiate with its leaders without preconditions.

The comments came after a week of intense actions between the United States and Iran.

Concern about a potential armed confrontation between the two countries has been growing since U.S. officials recently blamed Tehran for mine attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, allegations Tehran denies, and Iran’s downing of of a U.S. drone.

Trump said that late Thursday he had canceled a retaliatory strike against several Iranian targets. But on Thursday, according to U.S. news accounts, Trump also approved U.S. Cyber Command attacks on an Iranian intelligence group’s computer systems used to control missile and rocket launches.  

World powers have called for calm after the incidents.

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A group of Oregon state Republican senators have gone into hiding to stop the passage of a landmark climate change legislation. The western state’s House bill 2020 would set limits to carbon emissions with permits auctioned off to polluting industries. Republicans say the bill would hurt rural Oregonians. Democrats have a majority in both chambers of the state’s congress and the bill is likely to pass if it comes to the floor, which cannot happen unless there is a quorum of two-thirds of senators present. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the state governor, a Democrat, has given authorization to state police to track them down.

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Four years ago on June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same sex couples have the right to marry, a right guaranteed by the Constitution’s equal protection clauses. The landmark ruling accelerated a growing public acceptance of LGBTQ marriage, which includes lesbian, gay and other diverse sexual orientations. But as VOA’s Brian Padden reports, while opposition to same sex marriage is declining, it is still a strong political force in the country.

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U.S. President Donald Trump says he is “not looking for war” with Iran and willing to negotiate with its leaders without preconditions, but that under no circumstances can the Islamic Republic be allowed to mass a nuclear weapons arsenal.

Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press show that if the U.S. went to war with Iran, “It’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before.”

“But,” he added, “I’m not looking to do that.”

The U.S. leader said, “Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise, you can live in a shattered economy for a long time.”

Trump’s comments, taped Friday, were aired after he announced Saturday, without providing any details, that he plans to impose “major” new sanctions on Iran on Monday. He said the sanctions would be dropped as soon as the country becomes “a productive and prosperous nation again.”

Iran cannot have Nuclear Weapons! Under the terrible Obama plan, they would have been on their way to Nuclear in a short number of years, and existing verification is not acceptable. We are putting major additional Sanctions on Iran on Monday. I look forward to the day that…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2019

Two other key U.S. officials, national security adviser John Bolton and Vice President Mike Pence, issued new warnings to Iran that Trump’s last-minute decision to not militarily retaliate for Tehran’s Thursday shoot-down of an unmanned U.S. drone near the Strait of Hormuz should not be viewed as a sign of “weakness.”

“Neither Iran nor any other hostile actor should mistake U.S. prudence and discretion for weakness,” Bolton said in Jerusalem ahead of a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“No one has granted them a hunting license in the Middle East,” Bolton said of Iran. “Our military is rebuilt new and ready to go.”

Pence told the CNN television network, “Iran must not take restraint for a lack of resolve. This is a president who hopes for the best for the Iranian people…but we will stand up to their provocations.”

Bolton said existing sanctions against Tehran already are having a sharp effect on the Tehran economy.

“Sanctions are biting,” he said. “Iran can never have nuclear weapons — not against the U.S.A. and not against the world.”

Trump spoke with reporters Saturday at the White House before leaving for the presidential retreat at Camp David outside Washington for a meeting with top administration officials, at one point saying as soon as Tehran agreed to renounce nuclear weapons, “I’m going to be their best friend.”

Trump’s tone was much softer on Saturday after a week of intense actions between the U.S. and Iran.

Concern about a potential armed confrontation between the U.S. and Iran has been growing since U.S. officials recently blamed Tehran for mine attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, allegations Tehran denies, and Iran’s downing of the drone.

On Friday, Trump said that he had canceled late Thursday a retaliatory strike against several Iranian targets.

He tweeted that the United States was “cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,” Trump tweeted, saying the action would have been disproportionate.

Pence said the U.S. was “not convinced” the downing of the drone “was authorized at the highest level” of the Iranian government. As Trump weighed how to respond last week, he said the shoot-down might have been launched on orders of a “loose and stupid” Iranian officer.

World powers have called for calm after the incidents.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged for a political resolution of the crisis. “That is what we are working on,” she told Reuters.

On Sunday, Britain’s Middle East minister, Andrew Murrison, will travel to Tehran for talks with Iranian officials.

Britain’s Foreign Office said Murrison would call for “urgent de-escalation in the region.” He will also discuss Iran’s threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal that the United States pulled out of last year.  

James Phillips, a senior researcher at the conservative Washington-based Heritage Foundation, said he believes the immediate risk of a U.S.-Iran conflict has passed.

“It’s probably over as far as the incident goes with the shoot down of the drone. But, I think if there are further provocations, the president will respond in a strong and effective manner,” he said.

Phillips also said he does not expect Tehran to accept U.S. calls for negotiations while Trump continues a “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions on Iran. “I doubt that Tehran will be serious until it sees who wins the next presidential election,” he said.

The U.S. announced this week it was authorizing another 1,000 troops — including a Patriot missile battery and additional manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to bolster defenses at U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants to give opposition Democratic lawmakers “every last chance” to stiffen the country’s asylum laws and immigration policies before launching nationwide raids to deport undocumented migrants.

Trump, without identifying the details of what he wants, said the lawmakers who oppose his tough immigration stance could “quickly negotiate simple changes to Asylum and Loopholes. This will fix the Southern Border, together with the help that Mexico is now giving us. Probably won’t happen, but worth a try. Two weeks and big Deportation begins!” 

I want to give the Democrats every last chance to quickly negotiate simple changes to Asylum and Loopholes. This will fix the Southern Border, together with the help that Mexico is now giving us. Probably won’t happen, but worth a try. Two weeks and big Deportation begins!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2019

Trump had called for the raids in more than a dozen major U.S. cities to start Sunday, but abruptly called them off on Saturday.

Vice President Mike Pence told the CNN television network, “We’ve got to close the loopholes” at the border, where he said more than a million undocumented migrants, mostly from Central America, are expected to arrive this year to seek asylum in the United States.

“We’ve got to end the day where people believe they can come in and seek asylum and be released into the United States,” Pence said. “The days of our porous border are over.”

The vice president contended that 90 percent of undocumented migrants ordered to show up for later court hearings on their asylum requests skip the hearings, but the country’s Justice Department says the figure in 2018 was the opposite, with 89 percent showing up as ordered.

But whether any immigration deal between Trump and opposition Democrats can be reached is questionable. Previous partial agreements have foundered in Congress in recent years, with Republican and Democratic lawmakers unable to reach a final accord.

The reports that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency planned to conduct large-scale enforcement actions sparked an outcry from Democratic leaders in many major U.S. cities, who condemned the plan and initiated efforts to help affected undocumented migrants.

Trump said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged him Friday night to call off the raids, to show the same compassion he had in calling off a retaliatory military strike against Iranian targets after Tehran shot down an unmanned surveillance drone last Thursday.

“The President spoke about the importance of avoiding the collateral damage of 150 lives in Iran. I would hope he would apply that same value to avoiding the collateral damage to tens of thousands of children who are frightened by his actions,” she said in the statement, in which she called the raids “heartless.”

Pelosi responded later Saturday to Trump’s announcement to delay the raids, tweeting, “Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together.”

Mr. President, delay is welcome. Time is needed for comprehensive immigration reform. Families belong together. https://t.co/R9PDrfaKWj

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 22, 2019

Just hours before his tweet that announced the postponement of the migrant raids, as he departed the White House Saturday for Camp David, Trump said migrants who were to be targeted in a nationwide roundup should return to their native countries.

ICE Acting Director Mark Morgan told reporters days earlier the agency would round up and deport families who have received a removal order from a U.S. immigration court.

The operation had been expected to initially target up to 2,000 families in large cities that are major immigration destinations, including Houston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles.

Trump tweeted Saturday morning that ICE agents will pursue those who “have run from the law and run from the courts.”

He added, “These are people that are supposed to go back to their home country. They broke the law by coming into the country, & now by staying.”

The Miami Herald reports the other cities to be targeted were Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.

Last Monday, Trump had tweeted the U.S. would start deporting “millions of illegal aliens” from the country next week, but the announcement appeared to catch the country’s immigration officials by surprise.

Administration officials said the deportation plans have been under consideration for months, but immigration officials said earlier this week that raids on migrant families were not imminent.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan has warned that an operation to arrest migrants in their homes and at work sites risked separating children from their parents.

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U.S. President Donald Trump won under the U.S. electoral college system but lost the popular vote. His approval ratings have consistently been below 50 percent. Yet in a recent interview with TIME Magazine, Trump said he doesn’t need to reach out to independent voters because his “base is so strong.”  Who makes up Trump’s base, what motivates them, and will their support be enough to deliver a second term for Trump? White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara traveled to Orlando, Florida for Trump’s re-election campaign launch and brings back this report.

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Iran has increased its offensive cyberattacks against the U.S. government and critical infrastructure as tensions have grown between the two nations, cybersecurity firms say. 

In recent weeks, hackers believed to be working for the Iranian government have targeted U.S. government agencies, as well as sectors of the economy, including oil and gas, sending waves of spear-phishing emails, according to representatives of cybersecurity companies CrowdStrike and FireEye, which regularly track such activity.

It was not known if any of the hackers managed to gain access to the targeted networks with the emails, which typically mimic legitimate emails but contain malicious software.

U.S. sanctions

The cyber offensive is the latest chapter in U.S.-Iran cyber operations battle, with this recent sharp increase in attacks occurring after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Iranian petrochemical sector this month. 

Tensions have escalated since the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran last year and began a policy of “maximum pressure.” Iran has since been hit by multiple rounds of sanctions. Tensions spiked this past week after Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. drone,  an incident that nearly led to a U.S. military strike against Iran on Thursday evening. 

“Both sides are desperate to know what the other side is thinking,” said John Hultquist, director of intelligence analysis at FireEye. “You can absolutely expect the regime to be leveraging every tool they have available to reduce the uncertainty about what’s going to happen next, about what the U.S.’s next move will be.”

CrowdStrike shared images of the spear-phishing emails with AP.

One such email that was confirmed by FireEye appeared to come from the Executive Office of the President and seemed to be trying to recruit people for an economic adviser position. Another email was more generic and appeared to include details on updating Microsoft Outlook’s global address book.

The Iranian actor involved in the cyberattack, dubbed “Refined Kitten” by CrowdStrike, has for years targeted the U.S. energy and defense sectors, as well as allies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, said Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at CrowdStrike.

The National Security Agency would not discuss Iranian cyber actions specifically but said in a statement to AP on Friday that “there have been serious issues with malicious Iranian cyber actions in the past.”

“In these times of heightened tensions, it is appropriate for everyone to be alert to signs of Iranian aggression in cyberspace and ensure appropriate defenses are in place,” the NSA said.

Fuel sectors, infrastructure

Iran has long targeted the U.S. oil and gas sectors and other critical infrastructure, but those efforts dropped significantly after the nuclear agreement was signed. Cyber experts said that after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal in May 2018, they saw an increase in Iranian hacking efforts.

“This is not a remote war [anymore],” said Sergio Caltagirone, vice president of threat intelligence at Dragos Inc. “This is one where Iranians could ‘bring the war home’ to the United States.”

Caltagirone said as nations increase their abilities to engage offensively in cyberspace, the ability of the United States to pick a fight internationally and have that fight stay out of the United States physically is increasingly reduced.

The U.S. has had a contentious cyber history with Iran.

In 2010, the so-called Stuxnet virus disrupted the operation of thousands of centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility in Iran. Iran accused the U.S. and Israel of trying to undermine its nuclear program through covert operations. 

Iran has also shown a willingness to conduct destructive campaigns. Iranian hackers in 2012 launched an attack against state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, releasing a virus that erased data on 30,000 computers and left an image of a burning American flag on screens.

Banks, dam

In 2016, the U.S. indicted Iranian hackers for a series of punishing cyberattacks on U.S. banks and a small dam outside New York City.

U.S. Cyber Command refused to comment on the latest Iranian activity. “As a matter of policy and for operational security, we do not discuss cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning,” Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb said in a statement. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite the apparent cyber campaign, experts say the Iranians would not necessarily immediately exploit any access they gain into computer systems and may seek to maintain future capabilities should their relationship with the U.S. further deteriorate.

“It’s important to remember that cyber is not some magic offensive nuke you can fly over and drop one day,” said Oren Falkowitz, a former National Security Agency analyst. It takes years of planning, he said, but as tensions increase, “cyber impact is going to be one of the tools they use and one of the hardest things to defend against.”

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Oregon state Republicans would rather go AWOL than let a climate bill pass that they say would raise costs for rural Oregonians. 

A bill requiring polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions seemed poised to clear the state’s Democrat-controlled Legislature this week. But as the measure headed to a vote in the northwest U.S. state’s Senate, Republican members left the state, leaving the chamber short of a quorum and grinding legislative business to a halt. 
 
Putting a price on carbon pollution, as Oregon’s plan would do, is the climate change strategy economists swear by. Even Republican elder statesmen back it.
 
But the Oregon walkout is the latest demonstration that it can still be a tough sell politically. 
 
Pay to pollute 
 
After roughly two centuries of polluting for free, economists say fossil fuel industries should pay for the damage their greenhouse gases cause to the climate. And making carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions more expensive, they say, is the most efficient way to reduce them. 
 
Oregon’s cap-and-trade proposal is one way to accomplish that. 
 
The state would set a limit, or cap, on total CO2 emissions. Power plants, factories, refineries and other industries would have to buy allowances for each ton they produce. 
 
That provides an incentive to emit less. And companies with allowances left over can trade them with those having a harder time reducing pollution. 
 

Who pays? 
 
Industries that have to buy carbon allowances would most likely pass the cost on to consumers. 
 
One place consumers would most likely see that cost is at the gas pump. By some estimates, the program would raise fuel prices at least 16 cents per gallon in the first year and go up from there. 
 
Critics say the cost would fall harder on rural residents, who tend to drive farther than city dwellers. And farmers would pay more to drive planting and harvesting equipment. 
 
“We are against job-killing bills that will decimate rural Oregon, who many of my caucus members represent,” Senate Republican leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. said in a statement after the bill cleared the Oregon state House. 
 
But studies have shown that rural areas fare better under cap-and-trade programs than urban areas do. One study found the relatively small losses fell more heavily on urban areas. Another found net gains from increased energy efficiency, with bigger benefits to rural residents.  
 
Supporters say the bill’s writers were careful. 
 
“There are tons of details that really speak to how tailored the policy became for specifics of Oregonians,” said Pam Kiely with the Environmental Defense Fund. “It’s not cut-and-paste.” 
 
The bill includes measures to cushion the blow for some industries and residents. 
 
A tax credit would help low-income people defray higher fuel costs. Part of the revenue from selling pollution allowances would be used to help them weatherize their homes, reducing their heating and cooling bills. 
 
“We want to make sure this program doesn’t create an overall burden on low-income people,” said state Sen. Michael Dembrow, one of the bill’s Democratic backers. 
 
Also, heavy-polluting industries that might leave the state and set up shop elsewhere would get a break on their emissions allowances. 
 

‘Come armed’ 
 
Oregon’s state Senate Republicans are not sold. 
 
When Democratic Gov. Kate Brown sent the state police to find the missing lawmakers and return them to the capital, Republican Sen. Brian Boquist responded, “Send bachelors and come heavily armed. I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.” 
 
Oregon is not the first state to struggle with the politics of pricing carbon. 
 
New Jersey withdrew from the nation’s first cap-and-trade program under Republican Gov. Chris Christie in 2011. The state is now returning to the nine-state program under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. 
 
This year, Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration issued rules to join the program, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. But the state’s Republican legislature blocked them. 
 
It’s a global phenomenon. 
 
Australia’s Labor government launched a carbon-pricing program in 2012. Two years later, a new conservative government repealed it.  
 
Canada imposed a nationwide carbon tax this year under Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Several Canadian provinces led by Conservatives are fighting it in court. 
 
Meanwhile, in Oregon, legislative business is piling up as the June 30 end of the session nears. Brown has threatened to fine absent lawmakers $500 per day. 

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A skydiving plane crashed and burst into flames just after takeoff from a small seaside airfield on the island of Oahu, killing 11 people, officials said Saturday. 
 
Authorities initially reported that nine people died in the crash Friday evening and that three of them were customers of a skydiving company and six were employees. 
 
But the Hawaii Department of Transportation tweeted Saturday that officials later “confirmed there were 11 people on board the plane” and no survivors. The twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane had taken off from Dillingham Airfield on the north shore of the island. 
 
The plane was operated by the Oahu Parachute Center skydiving company and the ratio of employees to customers suggested that tandem jumps may have been planned in which the customers would have jumped while attached to experienced skydivers, Tim Sakahara, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Transportation, told reporters. 
 
Neves described the site of the crash near the airport’s perimeter as being “quite a ways away from the runway” and said that some family members of those aboard were at the airport when the plane went down about 6:30 p.m. 
 
“In my 40 years as a firefighter here in Hawaii, this is the most tragic aircraft incident that we’ve had,” Neves said. 
 
The plane was engulfed in flames when firefighters made it to the crash site about an hour’s drive from Honolulu, Neves said. The victims were not identified. 
 
Two Federal Aviation Administration inspectors went to the crash site Friday and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board who will investigate the crash were expected to arrive Saturday evening, said safety board spokesman Eric Weiss. 
 
The plane with two turboprop engines was manufactured in 1967, FAA records said. 
 
The phone for Oahu Parachute Center went unanswered Saturday. 
 
On its web site, the company says the jumps that it offers on Hawaii are “a magical experience. There really is no better place in the world to skydive.” Its tandem jumps are listed for prices ranging from $170 to $250. 
 
Videos from the company’s Facebook page show jumps from the same Beechcraft King Air that crashed, with customers strapped to employees and dropping from a side door of the aircraft from 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) or higher, with the Pacific Ocean and Oahu’s green mountains far below.  
  
Dillingham Airfield is used mostly for skydiving and glider flights. Hawaii shares the airfield with the Army, which uses it for helicopter night-vision training. 

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Muslims started settling in America in the 1600s. From the Northeast to Midwest, they have left their mark on U.S. history. Even in some Midwestern states where few Muslims live, there are historic milestones of their presence. Muslim homesteaders in Ross, North Dakota, built a mosque in the 1920s, making it one of the first mosques built in America. Saqib Ul Islam gives us a look in this report.

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Capitol Hill correspondent Katherine Gypson and VOA Persian’s Katherine Ahn contributed to this report from Washington.

The United States was “cocked & loaded,” ready to strike three sites in Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. drone over the Strait of Hormuz but called off the attacks at the last possible moment to spare Iranian lives.

The revelation by U.S. President Donald Trump on social media Friday followed news reports that the president initially authorized strikes on a handful of Iranian targets, such as radar installations and missile batteries, before pulling back.

“We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,” Trump tweeted, saying the action would have been disproportionate.

“I am in no hurry,” Trump added. 

President Obama made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran – Gave them 150 Billion Dollars plus I.8 Billion Dollars in CASH! Iran was in big trouble and he bailed them out. Gave them a free path to Nuclear Weapons, and SOON. Instead of saying thank you, Iran yelled…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019

The president also said that he authorized additional “biting” sanctions against Iran late Thursday night as part of his administration’s maximum pressure campaign to force Iran to restart negotiations over its nuclear program.

Hesameddin Ashena – an adviser to #Iran President @HassanRouhani – with a blunt message to the US on avoiding war w/#Tehran: if you don’t want war, ease the sanctions… pic.twitter.com/eBgXZnAbAG

— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) June 21, 2019

“Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!” Trump tweeted.

The move appears to pull Washington and Tehran back from the brink of armed conflict that could engulf the Middle East. President Trump spoke Friday with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“The two leaders discussed Saudi Arabia’s critical role in ensuring stability in the Middle East and in the global oil market,” said White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley. “They also discussed the threat posed by the Iranian regime’s escalatory behavior.”

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday, “We are in an extremely dangerous and sensitive situation with Iran. We must calibrate a response that de-escalates and advances American interests, and we must be clear as to what those interests are.” She added that any hostilities against Iran must first be approved by Congress.

Concern about a potential armed confrontation between the U.S. and Iran has been growing since U.S. officials recently blamed Tehran for mine attacks on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, allegations Tehran denies, and Iran’s downing of an unmanned U.S. drone this week.

James Phillips, a senior researcher at the conservative Washington-based Heritage Foundation, said he believes the immediate risk of a U.S.-Iran conflict has passed. 

“It’s probably over as far as the incident goes with the shoot down of the drone. But, I think if there are further provocations, the president will respond in a strong and effective manner,” he said.

Phillips also said he does not expect Tehran to accept U.S. calls for negotiations while Trump continues a “maximum pressure campaign” of sanctions on Iran. 

“I doubt that Tehran will be serious until it sees who wins the next presidential election,” he said.

The U.S. announced this week it was authorizing another 1,000 troops, including a Patriot missile battery and additional manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, to bolster defenses at U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria.

Trump earlier said the unmanned surveillance drone that was shot down was flying over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz when it was hit by an Iranian missile, and said the incident was a “very bad mistake.”

Iran says the drone flew into its air space, a “blatant violation of International law.”

Iran’s letter to @antonioguterres & #UNSC: While Iran does not seek war, it reserves its inherent right, under the UN Charter,to take all appropriate necessary measures against any hostile act violating its territory & is determined to vigorously defend its land, sea & air. pic.twitter.com/LDQBOZPCi5

— Alireza Miryousefi (@miryousefi) June 20, 2019

Friday, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, showed off pieces of wreckage he said Iran had recovered after shooting down the U.S. drone.

He also said Iran itself had shown restraint, opting not to shoot down another U.S. plane, sparing American lives.

“Another spy aircraft called P8 was flying close to this drone,” Hajizadeh said. “That aircraft is manned, and has around 35 crew members, well we could have targeted that plane.”

“It was our right to do so, and yes it was American, but we didn’t do it,” he said.

At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace. It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25°59’43″N 57°02’25″E) near Kouh-e Mobarak.

We’ve retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down. pic.twitter.com/pJ34Tysmsg

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) June 20, 2019

U.S. Air Forces Central Command, which oversees U.S. military activity in the region, has called many of the Iranian claims “categorically false.”

Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. Earl Brown rejected Iran’s claims that a surveillance plane was flying alongside the drone, saying, “At no point in time did any U.S. aircraft enter Iranian airspace on June 19.”

The U.S. Defense Department has also released images to bolster its assertion the drone did not enter Iranian airspace. But a news report said the department erroneously labeled the drone’s fight path the location where it was shot down. An image apparently showing the airborne drone exploding provided little context.

“It’s a really dangerous game and if I was flying in that region, which I have before, I’d be a little more nervous,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a U.S. Air Force Veteran who flew missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, told reporters Friday.

Kinzinger said Iran has moved the situation “this time — and multiple times prior — into the kinetic military realm. This is not the president doing it. I think a military response, even a small one is appropriate but if there’s a strong economic cost then I think that could work, too.”

But in recent days, Democrats have expressed concern Trump has not adequately consulted with the U.S. Congress on a military response they say could have grave consequences.

“I think every president would probably say initial, retaliatory strikes are ok but let’s de-escalate this, let’s look for a diplomatic solution,” Rep. Ami Bera, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told VOA. “He (Trump) may be walking right into the hands of what the Revolutionary Guards want.”

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