An American amphibious attack ship shot down an Iranian drone over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump announced the incident Thursday and said it in self-defense after the drone came within 1,000 yards of the USS Boxer and ignored calls to turn around. According to the Associated Press, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said the drone “closed within a threatening range” before the Boxer shot it down.
Tensions continue to run high between the United States and Iran after President Trump announced a fresh round of sanctions and reports surfaced that the United States had targeted Iran with a cyber-attack.
U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced on Monday that the U.S. will be sending 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East to “address air, naval, and ground-based threats” in the area.
Intelligence agents in Iran have forced an Assyrian Christian church to close its doors.
The husband of a human rights attorney in Iran recently announced that his wife has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes.
During a conference on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence warned European and Middle Eastern leaders of the ‘new Holocaust’ the Iranian regime is plotting.
Two Iranian Christians this month refused to renounce their faith in court in exchange for freedom and were sent back to jail and told to await a verdict.
Arrests of Christians in Iran usually spike as Christmas approaches, but this year has been especially severe, sources said.
Iranian refugees in Turkey are converting from Islam to Christianity in such numbers that churches can't keep up with the demand, experts in the region say.
