Trump approved military strikes against Iran, but pulled back from launch
US President Donald Trump approved military strikes on
Friday against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned $130-million
surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching the attacks, The New York
Times said.
Trump had initially approved strikes on a handful of targets
such as radar and missile batteries, the paper cited senior administration
officials involved in, or briefed on, the deliberations, as saying.
The strikes were set to take place just before dawn on
Friday to minimize risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, it added.
Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no
missiles fired, when the order to stand down came, it cited one senior
administration official as saying.
The abrupt reversal put a halt to what would have been
Trump’s third military action against targets in the Middle East, the paper
added, saying Trump had struck twice at targets in Syria, in 2017 and 2018.
However, it is not clear whether attacks on Iran might still
go forward, the paper said, adding that it was not known if the cancellation of
strikes had resulted from Trump changing his mind or administration concerns
regarding logistics or strategy.
