According to a report from The New York Times published on June 21, 2019, the United States military was reportedly within hours of launching a retaliatory strike against Iran when President Donald Trump abruptly canceled the operation. The planned strikes were in response to Iran's downing of a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone on June 20, 2019, which the US said occurred in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Times that the military had been 'even more surprised by Trump’s post canceling the strikes than they were by his comments about big strikes.' The president had initially approved the operation, which was set to target Iranian radar and missile batteries, but called it off after learning that an estimated 150 people could be killed.
Trump confirmed the cancellation in a series of tweets on June 21, 2019, stating that he had stopped the strike ten minutes before it was to begin because it would not have been 'proportionate' to shooting down an unmanned drone. The incident marked a significant escalation in tensions between the US and Iran, though no military action was ultimately taken.
