【ワシントン=永沢毅】トランプ米大統領は18日、中東のホルムズ海峡で米強襲揚陸艦「ボクサー」がイランの小型無人機を撃墜したことを明らかにした。米側の警告をイランが無視したためだと説明し、防御的な対応だと主張した。イランが反発して中東情勢の緊張が一段と高まる恐れがある。
【関連記事】
2019／7／19 22：45
3 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump’s claim that a U.S. warship destroyed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf in another escalation of tensions between the two countries less than a month after Trump nearly launched an airstrike.
The Iranian military said all its drones had returned safely to their bases and denied there was any confrontation with a U.S. vessel the previous day.
The country’s Revolutionary Guard said on its website it would release before-and-after images from the drone — it did not say when — to prove it was not destroyed.
“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” tweeted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
The strategically vital strait is at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and serves as the passageway for one-fifth of all global crude exports, and oil prices ticked upward Friday on the news.
Trump on Thursday said the USS Boxer took action after an Iranian drone closed to within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored commands to stay away. The president accused Iran of “provocative and hostile” action and said the U.S. acted in self-defense.
Neither Trump nor the Pentagon spelled out how the Boxer destroyed the drone. CNN reported that the ship used electronic jamming to bring it down rather than hitting it with a missile.
On June 20, Iran shot down an American drone in the same waterway, and Trump came close to retaliating but called off an airstrike at the last moment.
The Revolutionary Guard said the Iranian drone on Thursday had been carrying out regular surveillance when the USS Boxer arrived, and transmitted photos of the ship. The Guard said its forces continue to carefully monitor all movements of foreigners — especially “the terrorist forces” of the U.S. and the British in the strait and the Gulf.
After Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal with world powers last year and imposed economic sanctions against Tehran, the Iranians have pushed back on the military front in recent weeks, with Washington accusing Tehran of threatening American forces and interests in Iraq and in the Gulf.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, suggested in New York as he arrived for a meeting at the United Nations that Iran could immediately ratify an agreement to allow broader inspections of its nuclear facilities by U.N. inspectors if the U.S. dropped its sanctions.
China urged Washington to consider the offer, calling it “a positive signal that Iran is willing to seek a compromise solution.”
The Pentagon said Thursday’s incident happened in international waters while the Boxer was entering the Gulf. The Boxer is among several U.S. Navy ships in the area, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been operating in the North Arabian Sea for weeks in response to rising tensions.
The Iranians and Americans have had close encounters in the Strait of Hormuz in the past, and it is not unprecedented for Iran to fly a drone near a U.S. warship.
Zarif blamed Washington for the escalation and accused the Trump administration of “trying to starve our people” and “deplete our treasury” through sanctions.
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Rising reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Robert Burns and Deb Riechmann in Washington, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Ian Phillips in New York, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Carlo Piovano in London contributed to this report.
ホワイトハウスの会合で語った。米国防総省によると撃墜したのは現地時間18日午前10時頃（日本時間同日午後2時半頃）だった。トランプ氏によると、ボクサーにイランのドローンが約900メートルの距離まで近づいたため、警告を複数回発したがイラン側はそれを無視したという。「艦船と乗組員の脅威となり、ドローンを直ちに破壊した」と説明。「米国は航行の自由とグローバルな取引を混乱させるイランの試みを非難するよう全ての国に求める」と力説した。
その上で「これは公海を航行する船へのイランによる挑発的で敵対的な行動の最新事例だ」と指摘。「ホルムズ海峡を通る際に各国は自国の船を守り、私たちと連携するよう求める」と強調し、イランの脅威に共同対処する必要性を唱えた。
トランプ米政権は19日にホルムズ海峡近辺を航行する船舶の安全確保のための有志連合の形成に向け、関係国への説明会を開く。無人機の撃墜を明らかにしたのは、各国に協力の必要性を訴える狙いがあるとみられる。
一方、イランのザリフ外相は18日、ニューヨークの国連本部で記者団に「無人機の撃墜に関して我々は情報を持っていない」と語った。ザリフ氏は国連のグテレス事務総長と会談した。
ホルムズ海峡周辺では5～6月にタンカーが攻撃される事件が相次ぎ発生。6月半ばには、イランの精鋭部隊である革命防衛隊に米国の無人偵察機が撃墜された。この際はトランプ氏が報復措置としてイランへの軍事行動を検討し、実行寸前で撤回するなど緊張が高まった。
A lot of bad things are happening in Puerto Rico. The Governor is under siege, the Mayor of San Juan is a despicable and incompetent person who I wouldn’t trust under any circumstance, and the United States Congress foolishly gave 92 Billion Dollars for hurricane relief, much....
....of which was squandered away or wasted, never to be seen again. This is more than twice the amount given to Texas & Florida combined. I know the people of Puerto Rico well, and they are great. But much of their leadership is corrupt, & robbing the U.S. Government blind!
物乞いして生きるミンはどこにいても同じ運命 同じ構造 大国のふりをしたいミンよりよほどプエルトリコの方が安全な隣人。920億ドルで核武装したいとは言わないからね。
squander (ˈskwɒndə)
vb (tr)
1. to spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate
2. an obsolete word for scatter
