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A U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, President Donald Trump said.

The drone got within 1,000 yards of the U.S.S. Boxer, a Navy warship, and refused to back off after it was hailed multiple times, Trump told the press Thursday afternoon. The president said that the drone posed a threat to the ship and its crew.

&#x201c;This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,&#x201d; Trump said. &#x201c;The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests, and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran&#x2019;s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.&#x201d;

BREAKING: US has “destroyed” an Iranian drone in Strait of Hormuz, President Trump says; asserts that the drone ignored warnings from USS Boxer to stand down as it neared the ship. pic.twitter.com/oQh9ZuhCju— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 18, 2019



NBC News on Twitter

The Pentagon confirmed the altercation. &#x201c;A fixed wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) approached Boxer and closed within a threatening range,&#x201d; said Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman in a statement. He said the incident took place at 10 a.m. local time, as the U.S. warship was entering the Strait of Hormuz.

**_[Read: A U.S. war with Iran would cause the world &#x201c; enormous pain.&#x201d; Here's why](https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/evyp8z/a-us-war-with-iran-would-cause-the-world-enormous-pain)_**

The altercation marks the latest escalation of spiraling tensions between the U.S. and Iran, following Iran&#x2019;s take-down of an [unmanned American drone](https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/mb84pn/iran-just-shot-down-a-us-spy-drone) in late June. That act brought Trump [within minutes of launching retaliatory](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/politics/trump-iran-attack.html) strikes on Iranian targets. Ultimately, however, Trump opted against the strikes, saying that such an attack would have put the U.S. on a warpath and was &#x201c;not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.&#x201d;

For now, the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most heavily trafficked waterways in the world, has been the primary site of skirmishes between Iran and its opponents, including the U.S. Earlier in the day, Iran announced it had [seized a foreign tanker](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-seizes-foreign-oil-tanker-strait-hormuz-state-tv-reports-n1031116) it alleged was smuggling fuel into the Gulf.

Iranians rallied in the streets of Tehran last Monday, commemorating the 40th anniversary of when Ayatollah Khomeini’s supporters overthrew the rule of the US-backed monarchy of Reza Shah Pahlavi.

Since the Islamic Revolution, U.S.-Iranian relations have largely been defined by sanctions — which were first imposed after the 1979 hostage crisis. While President Obama offered Iran respite from some sanctions with the 2015 nuclear agreement, President Trump ditched the deal altogether, imposing the toughest unilateral sanctions on Iran to date.

Since last year, inflation rates are up almost 40%, forcing some Iranians like Masoumeh Karimi and her son Amir, to choose between sound economic decisions and maintaining their cultural traditions.

Last year, Amir’s grandmother died — so the Karimi’s buried her in Zahra’s Paradise, Iran’s largest cemetery. Now, they’re struggling to pay for her plot.

Most burials in Zahra’s paradise happen in a section where graves are stacked in threes. The bottom ones are given away for free, in compliance with Iranian law that ensures everyone the right to a grave. While the Karimi’s took a free grave — they also wanted to stick to their traditions, which means purchasing the rest of the graves in the plot.

“My grandmother is buried on the first level, and I don’t want them to bury someone else on the second or third level.” Amir Karimi told VICE News. “I wanted to keep those for our family, I didn’t want a stranger in the grave.”

Paying for two additional graves isn’t easy for Amir, who’s a real estate broker, and his mom, who is an at home tailor. They’re struggling pay off installments on the 20 million rials ($600 USD) they owe, before the deadline at the end of the Persian New Year on March 21.  

Other Iranians under pressure from sanctions are considering abandoning tradition altogether. Sima Saeedi, a local cafe owner, is having trouble keeping her business afloat under sanctions.

“2018 saw more serious sanctions by the U.S. that have become very real, which resulted in a decline in our quality of life,” Saeedi told VICE News. “People used to order individual plates, now they order one meal and share it.”

Saeedi has owned a grave plot next to her father in Zahra’s paradise for 24 years but is thinking about selling it to make ends meet. If she does, she’d break with her tradition, something the Karimi family is unwilling to do, no matter the cost.

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_Cover:_ _President Donald Trump says the USS Boxer destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between the two countries. Trump says it's the latest "hostile" action by Iran. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jesse Monford/U.S. Navy via AP)_

Trump Says the U.S. Navy Shot Down an Iranian Drone

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