Last night at 20 around, Washington time Donald Trump, had ordered an attack on specific Iranian targets, in retaliation for the shooting down of the US spy drone in the Gulf.
The entire military device had already been started and were in position to launch the attack.
But before starting the operation, Trump canceled the operation, as reported by the New York Times which disclosed the news, according to rumors received by the Pentagon.
It is not clear whether it is a total cancellation of the intervention or a simple strategic suspension. The next few hours remain crucial. And the signs of very high tension are all there: the US fleet in the Gulf remains on standby for the next 72 hours, with the crew in attack position, writes Newsweek; the American Civil Aviation Federation has suspended US civilian flights in Iranian airspace over the Gulf "until further notice, and Iran claims to have" irrefutable evidence "that the drone was in its airspace.
Among the targets set by the United States for the raids was the ground-to-air missile system Neva / Pechora S-125, a Soviet system known to NATO's Western military alliance as SA-3 Goa, a Pentagon official told Newsweek. The weapon is expected to be the same as that used for the downing of the Navy's Global Hawk RQ-4A drone, although the Pasdaran have announced that they have used the 3 Khordad, a Transporter Launcher (Tel) and radar, variant of the ground missile system. - Raad air produced locally.
It is difficult to predict what will happen in the next few hours. What is certain is the internal rift in the American administration: the hawks John Bolton, national security adviser; Mike Pompeo, secretary of state and the director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, they had given green light to a military response. However, Pentagon officials warned that such an intervention could trigger a dramatic escalation with risks for US forces in the region.
Meanwhile the United States Federal Civil Aviation Agency has excluded American flights from part of Iranian airspace, above the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The restrictions "until further notice" are due to "increased military activity and increased political tensions in the region, which pose a risk to US civil aviation operations and possible miscalculations or misidentification," the said. 'United States Federal Aviation Administration. "The risk for US civil aviation is demonstrated by the launch of Iranian surface-to-air missiles for the downing of an American surveillance aircraft", writes the authority.
In addition to the downed American drone, there is probably also an issue known to few. In recent days, Iran allegedly carried out a vast intelligence operation with “violent” arrests and interrogations, precisely against American agents discovered in an important cyber intelligence operation in Iranian territory.
The situation, therefore, remains serious and an eventual American attack would lead to an unprecedented escalation in the area. Allied navies could be called in to control the Strait of Hormuz.