THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 2019
Trump calls off Iranian
strikes, citing likely deaths
By DEB RIECHMANN
and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Presi-
dent Donald Trump said Fri-
day the U.S. was “cocked
and loaded” to retaliate
against Iran for downing an
unmanned American surveil-
lance drone, but he canceled
the strikes minutes before
they were to be launched
after being told 150 people
could die.
Trump’s tweeted state-
ment raised important ques-
tions, including why he
learned about possible deaths
only at the last minute.
His stance was the lat-
est example of the president
showing some reluctance to
escalate tensions with Iran
into open military confl ict.
He did not rule out a future
strike but said in a TV inter-
view that the likelihood of
casualties from the Thurs-
day night plan to attack three
sites in Iran did not seem like
the correct response to shoot-
ing down an unmanned drone
earlier in the day in the Strait
of Hormuz.
“I didn’t think it was pro-
portionate,” he said in an
interview with NBC News’
Meet the Press.
The aborted attack was the
closest the U.S. has come to a
direct military strike on Iran
in the year since the admin-
istration pulled out of the
2015 international agree-
ment intended to curb the
Iranian nuclear program
and launched a campaign of
increasing economic pressure
against the Islamic Republic.
Trump told NBC News
that he never gave a fi nal
order to launch the strikes —
planes were not yet in the air
but would have been “pretty
soon.”
He said military offi cials
came to him about 30 min-
utes before the strikes were
to be launched and asked him
for his fi nal approval. Before
signing off, he said he asked
how many Iranians would be
killed and was told approxi-
mately 150.
“I thought about it for a
second and I said, ‘You know
what? They shot down an
unmanned drone, plane —
whatever you want to call
it — and here we are sitting
with 150 dead people.’ That
would have taken place prob-
ably within a half an hour
after I said go ahead. And I
didn’t like it. I didn’t think it
was proportionate.”
In Iran, Gen. Amir Ali
Hajizadeh, the head of the
Revolutionary Guard’s aero-
space division, told report-
ers on Friday that a U.S.
spy plane with around 35
crew members was fl ying
close to the unmanned U.S.
US drone shot down by Iran
U.S. officials say an RQ-4A Global Hawk drone was shot down
by Iran. The two countries have disputed the exact location.
Strait of
Hormuz
Iran claims
drone shot
down here
Fujairah
Dubai
Dubai
U . A . . E .
U.S. claims
drone shot
down here
1
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Sources: U.S. Air Force; Iran Revolutionary Guard
Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk
that was shot down, but that
Iran chose not to target the
manned aircraft. He said Iran
warned the drone several
times before downing it with
a missile.
Late Thursday, the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration
barred American-registered
aircraft from fl ying over parts
of the Persian Gulf and the
Gulf of Oman, and several
major airlines from around
the world on Friday began
rerouting their fl ights, includ-
ing British Airways, Aus-
tralia’s Qantas, Germany’s
Lufthansa and the Dutch car-
rier KLM.
In his lengthy, morning
tweet, Trump defended his
stance on Iran amid criticism
from Democrats who accuse
him of having no strategy.
He said he pulled out of the
2015 Iran nuclear deal, which
gave Tehran sanctions relief
in exchange for pledges to
rein in its nuclear program,
because the agreement only
temporarily blocked Iran
from having nuclear weap-
ons. Trump said the nuclear
deal also did not stem Iran’s
support of militant groups or
restrain its ballistic missile
program.
He said his exit from the
deal and the re-imposition of
sanctions on Iran has crippled
its economy.
“Now they are Bust!”
“I am in no hurry,” he said.
“Sanctions are biting & more
added last night. Iran can
NEVER have Nuclear Weap-
ons, not against the USA, and
not against the WORLD!”
The overnight events,
however, were a stark
reminder of the serious risk
of military confl ict between
U.S. and Iranian forces as the
Trump administration com-
bines its “maximum pres-
sure” campaign of economic
sanctions with a buildup
of American troops in the
region. As tensions have
mounted in recent weeks,
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I RA
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Iranian 12 nautical
mile territorial
boundary
Fujairah
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there have been growing
fears that either side could
make a dire miscalculation
leading to war.
“We are in an extremely
dangerous and sensitive sit-
uation with Iran,” House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said
Friday. “We must calibrate
a response that de-escalates
and advances American inter-
ests, and we must be clear as
to what those interests are.”
The Trump administration
has been putting increasing
economic pressure on Iran for
more than a year. It reinstated
punishing sanctions follow-
ing Trump’s decision to pull
the U.S. out of an interna-
tional agreement intended to
limit Iran’s nuclear program
in exchange for relief from
earlier sanctions.
Citing Iranian threats, the
U.S. recently sent an aircraft
carrier to the Persian Gulf
region and deployed addi-
tional troops alongside the
tens of thousands already
there. All this has raised fears
that a miscalculation or fur-
ther rise in tensions could
push the U.S. and Iran into an
open confl ict 40 years after
Tehran’s Islamic Revolution.
The downing of the U.S.
drone — a huge, unmanned
aircraft — over the Strait of
Hormuz prompted accusa-
tions from the U.S. and Iran
about who was the aggressor.
Iran insisted the drone vio-
lated Iranian airspace; Wash-
ington said it had been fl ying
over international waters.
The dispute has raised
fears that an open confl ict
between the U.S. and Iran is
on the horizon. Some law-
makers insisted the White
House must consult with
Congress before taking any
actions.
Pelosi said no specifi c
options for a U.S. response
were presented at Thurs-
day’s meeting between top
national security offi cials
and congressional leaders at
the White House.
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Astoria Scandinavian Heritage Association
Fundraising is progressing for a Scandinavian park downtown.
Park: Sights set on June 2020
Continued from Page A1
“Being the prudent Scan-
dinavians that we are, we’re
going to have all the money
in the bank before we even
start construction,” she
added. “We just thought that
was the best way to do it.”
The park, which changed
its name in April from the
Astoria Scandinavian Her-
itage Park to the Astoria
Nordic Heritage Park to be
more inclusive, will be built
at Peoples Park off Marine
Drive.
When they fi rst started
planning the park, mem-
bers of the Astoria Scandi-
navian Heritage Association
had hoped to complete it in
time for the Scandinavian
festival’s 50th anniversary
in 2017. Instead, they spent
the p ast two years working
with the city on logistics and
a site design.
Now they have their
sights set on June 2020 —
dependent on fundraising.
“We are very optimis-
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because we have achieved so
much already,” Lampi said.
The committee has begun
to purchase various park fea-
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