U.S. Navy vessel downs Iranian drone in Strait of Hormuz

STRAIT OF HORMUZ — U.S. President Donald Trump claims a U.S. Navy ship destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz after it came dangerously close to the vessel. Tehran, however, says they have no information about losing a drone.According to a U.S. Department of Defense statement, the USS Boxer was conducting an inbound transit in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, at approximately 10 a.m. local time. While the U.S. Navy vessel was sailing through the passageway, a drone came within 1,000 meters of the ship and ignored "multiple calls to stand down."Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told CNN they assessed the unmanned aerial system to be Iranian.A U.S. military official told CNN that the marine unit aboard the USS Boxer used counter-drone jamming equipment, which is able to "detect, identify and defeat drones with an electronic attack."When the drone "closed within a threatening range" of the USS Boxer, the vessel took defensive action and immediately destroyed it.President Trump claims the incident was "the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters." He called on other nations to condemn these attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and commerce in the key transit point.Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been escalating in recent months. The U.S. previously blamed two suspected oil tanker attacks in the region on Iran, and accused the Iranians of shooting down a U.S military drone just last month.